Other half
by littlewinter
Summary: This is a Jacob/Nessie story. Nessie is now fully grown. She realizes she does not see Jacob as just a friend anymore, and their realationship starts to develop into something more than friendship. But then something unexpected happens...*Now Complete*
1. Alone

**Authors Note: **

_This is a Jacob/Nessie fanfic. Nessie is seven years old and fully grown, and she has no idea about how Jacob feels about her or that he imprinted on her. Slowly she realizes that she has feelings for him, and they start to develop their friendship into something more. Then something unexpected happens..._

On some of the chapters I've listed a song that I think suits with the chapter – youtube it while reading! And by the way, english is NOT my first language, so please be kind with me;) Hope there are not too many mistakes!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything, it all belongs to Stephanie Meyer.

Hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter 1 - Alone**

It happened during those two weeks in February. It was the time when the sky always were in a blue-grey haze and the snow still clung faithfully to the ground. My parents and the rest of my family had left a few days ago to visit our friends in Denali, so I had the house pretty much to myself. And Jake, of course.

We both had to finish our last week of school before the break next week. Besides, Jake needed to take care of Billy and I decided to stay here with him. Billy had been in and out of the hospital a little while ago; he'd got some trouble with his heart. He was alright now, but Jacob didn't want to leave him alone for a longer period of time. He didn't say it out loud, but I understood.

It was Monday. I'd just gotten home from school and a trip to the mal with a couple of girlfriends. Since I didn't grow any more I could go to school and make some human friends of my own. Aunt Rose had been teaching me at home, but it felt great to be out and meet _people._ The only downside, that came quite unexpected, was that I didn't see Jacob as much as before. We used to be inseparable; now we could only be together in the afternoons and nights. I missed him terribly when he wasn't there. He _was _my best friend.

After changing my clothes into a grey knit-sweater and jeans, I went down to the kitchen to find something to drink. Jake would be here any minute. I opened the refrigerator, poked around a little and decided for a yoghurt. Suddenly a pair of warm hands were placed in front of my eyes, and I couldn't see anything.

"Hey! Jake!"

I wheeled around and lost my yoghurt. Jacob removed his hands from my eyes and grinned down at me. I grinned back

"You could have knocked" I said, smacking his arm.

"When did you get such bad hearing?" He laughed. "I was almost marching in here."

"You were sneaking, and you know it"

"You calling me a sneak?" he challenged, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh shut up"

I jumped up and hugged him. He hugged me back, lifting my feet a little bit off the ground.

"It's so good to see you" I laughed.

He put me down, and his eyes were blazing. "It's good to see you too, Nessie".

I was looking forward to these two weeks. It would be nice to have the house all to ourselves for a while. Not that we wanted to be alone or anything, it wasn't like _that_. I mean, me and Jake have always been best-buddies, but it was never something more than the friendship thing. We'd never been dating or anything, it was not like he had any romantic feelings for me. He was my big brother and best friend, and he had always been very protective of me. He'd been there all my life since I was a little girl and we'd sort of grown up together. Of course, I had always had a weak spot for him, but it was only because of the close bond we had. I think.

Honestly, lately I'd caught myself having some thoughts I don't know if I should have. Sometimes, when he was picking me up after school or we went out in town, I noticed other girls looking at him. Or _drooling,_ more accurate. I didn't like it. At all. Not that I was surprised; Jake was definitely worth looking at. He was tall and tanned, broad-shouldered and oh-so-muscular. He had a really handsome face with playful eyes, and at the same time a don't-you-mess-with-me sort of attitude.

I mean, I'm not surprised that he's got a trail of girls behind him, I just don't _like_ it. I almost get grumpy with him, and it's not his fault that he is so good looking. Sometimes I think my reaction ought to be different, like if I should be teasing him or laugh about it. Instead I start thinking "what if he figures out that he actually _likes_ one of them?" What if Jacob got a girlfriend?

He is just my friend, my brother, and in his full right to get himself a girlfriend. Maybe I'm being possessive. Who am I kidding, of course I am being possessive, I guess I always have with Jacob. But only in a "he's my friend, don't steal him" kind of way. You know, cute, I-know-him-better-than-anyone possessive. Before, this didn't even cross my mind, and I wouldn't have minded if he had a girlfriend. But now? Something has changed. I'd like to think that I would've been cool with it; good for him, you know. But I'm not sure if I would be completely honest..

I closed the refrigerator and picked up the yoghurt from the floor. I offered him one too, but he said no thanks.

"You're thoughtful today" he noted.

He was leaning against the kitchen table, opposite me.

"Mhm" I said, my eyes on the yoghurt I was eating.

"Want to share your thoughts with me?" he tried, a smile playing on his lips.

"It's nothing exciting. I'm just thoughtful" I replied, my eyes still on the yoghurt.

It looked like if he was going to ask more, but I cut him off.

"So... how was your day?"

He smiled at my obvious attempt to change the subject, but didn't push it.

I ate my yoghurt and we went into the living-room. Jake poured himself a coke, and sat down on the couch beside me. He picked up the remote and started to flip through the channels. This was habit.

"Anything you feel like doing?" he asked, sending me a smile.

"Nah. I dunno. I have this essay I've got to finish"

"Okay. You should do that"

His eyes were now back on the TV. "Partypooper" he muttered under his breath, knowing I would hear it. He was teasing me.

I leaned over to him, smiling angelic while stroking my hand across his face. He looked at me confused at first, until I sent him an image that clearly said S_hut it_.He burst out laughing and I grinned to myself as I went to get my schoolbooks.

After getting my stuff I sat down beside him in the sofa. I leaned against the side while swinging my legs across his lap. He automaticly placed his hands on top of my legs. We sat like this for a couple of hours, he watching TV while I finished my essay. We spoke now and then, and sometimes I caught him looking at me when he thought I didn't notice .

After my fifth yawn he snatched the essay out of my hands.

"This is too boring for you"

"Noo, it's not that" I tried to snatch the essay back. "I'm just tired, that's all. I haven't got a lot of sleep lately"

He lowered his head and sent me a look.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Partypooper, I know" I said, rolling my eyes. I reached for the essay again, but he didn't let me have it.

" If you're tired then you should sleep" he lectured me."Not write essays"

He sent me a another look, but didn't quite manage to hold a straight face.

"Jake" I smiled. As soon as I said his name a smile spread on his face.

"I'm not going to fall asleep" I continued with a smile. "We could watch a dvd or something, if you'd like".

He raised his eyebrows. "You're putting away the essay?"

"Sure, sure" I promised and snatched it back. "I'm nearly done"

He sighed and shook his head.

When the essay was written (Jake nearly applauded) I leaned back and felt my eyes close. I was really tired. I hadn't gotten much sleep lately, with all that was happening with Billy. It had been some pretty late nights waiting for Jacob to come over; we'd spent hours in my room, sometimes talking until the next morning

Jacob scooped over to my side and put his arm around my shoulders. I opened my eyes, and he sent me a warm smile.

"You up for a dvd?" I asked. "Something to do with horror maybe. Or that new werewolf film Rose bought you"

He laughed. I loved it when he was laughing.

"Yeah, that aunt of yours, charming isn't she? Buying me a film with tiny little hairy men, running around with plastic fangs, howling under the full moon. Hilarious".

Rosalie and Jacob had always had a little mocking relationship, but knew they didn't _really_ dislike each other.

"Actually...you pick one, all right? I'm just going to get a shower. Then maybe I'll manage to stay awake for the next two hours"

"You know, we don't _have _to watch a film"

"You don't want to?"

He leaned his head back, looking at me.

"We can do whatever you want." He paused and then added. "I just thought, you know, if you were tired. But dvd sounds good"

"You choose" I reached up to kiss the tip of his nose. "I'll go take a shower so I won't fall asleep on you."

I still had my own room in the cottage, but Esme had insisted on me having my own room in the main house as well. She had transformed one of the study-rooms into a bedroom, with a view over the forest. If we were to watch a film, Jake and I would always be watching it up in my room. I guess it had become a habit, since the TV downstairs often were occupied (mostly by Emmet) and it allowed us to lie on a bed – much more comfortable than the floor or a couch.

I went into the bathroom and took a long and warm shower. It felt really good, and made me feel much more awake. I wrapped a towel around me and went into my room to find some clothes. I didn't know that Jacob would be there.

He was sitting on my bed, flipping a dvd-cover around in his hands. He looked up when I entered, and seemed utterly speechless for a second.

"Ops" I laughed. "I'm just gonna pick up some clothes and disappear"

I expected he would just laugh back, make a joke and say something about the film he'd chosen, but he didn't say anything. I walked past him and picked up some tights and an oversized t-shirt from my closet. As I turned back on my way out I noticed he was staring at me. The second I caught his eyes he looked down on his hands, holding the dvd. Did he blush? I couldn't say for sure. Oh dear. I'd made him uncomfortable.

I went out in a hurry and into the bathroom. What had just happened? I didn't know he was _that_ shy. It wasn't like I was naked, for crying out loud! The towel I was wrapped in was huge; honestly it covered more of my skin than most of my summer dresses did. And why would he care? He'd seen me in towels and bikinis and nightgowns and tiny sundresses and god-knows-what before. What made this any different? I would totally have understood if I entered naked or in my underwear or something, that would've been awkward. But _I didn't! _Oh well. Maybe I was putting to much into this. Maybe I'd imagined it all.

I put my clothes on and combed my hair quickly. I didn't bother to blow-dry it. Then I went back to my room, determined not to have any more awkwardness. Jacob was still sitting on my bed, flipping the dvd cover. He didn't look up when I entered this time.

"You can look up now" I hinted, trying to loose the tension in the air. "I'm untoweled and presentable".

He peeked up, giving me a quick smile. It seemed a little bit forced. He still didn't say anything, so I tried to give him something else to think about.

"Oh, by the way, I'm invited to a friend of mine this Saturday. Tina. You've met, right? Do you have any plans for Saturday? I thought maybe we could do something after I get home, it wont be that late."

He continued to study the dvd-cover.

I hesitated " I mean, if you want to of course. Unless you've got other plans".

He looked at me then, smiling. "I'll pick you up. Where does she live?"

I relaxed a little bit and told him the address. Finally a response.

"So, which film did you find?"

He'd chosen a horror. It was absolutely fine with me. Most of the horror films we had seen weren't even close to scary. Normally we would sit and laugh because of the oh-so-many poor effects.

We didn't laugh today though. Not because it wasn't funny – actually it was. Jake was sitting by the headboard with me beside him. He didn't put his arm around me as he normally did. He didn't laugh. He just watched the film intently.

"Jake" I said after a little while, angling my face up towards his. " Is everything okay?"

He met my eyes for one second. Then he smiled and punched my shoulder lightly.

"Off course, why do you need to ask?"

It was meant as a rhetorical question, so I didn't answer.

I didn't pay much attention to the film. Something was up. Something was wrong. Was it because of the towel incident? Somehow I couldn't believe it could be just that. I mean, Jake really wasn't that shy, I knew him that much. I started to worry, but I couldn't get myself to ask him about it. I must have fallen asleep during the film, my mind filled with towels and nudity, Jake, dvds, Jake, awkwardness, Jacob and bad feelings.

**Authors note: **_So, what do you think? There will be muuuch more crossing-the-friendship-line in the next chapters, this was just the beginning. More romance coming up, promise._

_(And by the way, I don't know if it actually is a winter break in Amerika (almost like spring-break only it's in February) but we do have that in Norway. And since I sort of sketched the whole story up in Norwegian before I wrote it in English, that's how it goes... Ha ha :P)_

_Please review, let me know what you think! If you like it, tell me, and if you don't, tell me why:)_


	2. Distant

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, it all belongs to Stephenie Meyer.**

_Sigur Ros – Vid Spilum Endalaust. Youtube it:)_

* * *

**Distant**

I woke the next day, the sun hitting me in the face. I'd forgotten the curtains. Great. The TV had been turned off, and there was a blanket carefully draped over me. There was even a pillow stuffed under my head. Beside me in the bed, with his hand resting lightly on my stomach, was Jake. He was breathing heavily, but not snoring. I studied his face. He looked so young and carefree when he slept, and I forgot that he actually was many years older than me.

I placed a finger on his cheek and showed him a memory of us from a long time ago. I was sitting on his back, and he was in his wolf-form. He was running through the forest, the trees flying by. The morning sun sneaking in from above the trees gave it all a magical glow. I was a little girl and I was laughing, willing him to go faster. He was elated, running with energy and joy. It was a good image, a happy one. He'd told me before it was his favourite to wake up to.

As I showed him the memory, slowly he began to stir. A smile spread on his lips. He opened his eyes slowly and sent me a smile so honest and happy that it erased every unpleasant feeling from last night. Out of pure instinct I leaned over to him and kissed his cheek. I dunno why I did it exactly, it just felt right. He was looking at me with warm eyes. When I leaned back he followed, as if he wanted to kiss my cheek too. I could feel his hot breath on my face. Suddenly he stopped, as if he'd just remembered something important. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked at me with uncertain eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sitting up next to him.

"It's nothing wrong" He smiled, but it was a forced smile.

"Jacob, I can tell something is wrong. You're acting all weird, and so you did last night".

This seemed to surprise him. He looked even... embarrassed? He drew his breath and gave a deep sigh.

"I have a lot on my mind, that's all. Don't think about it"

His tone was friendly, but made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it. Before I could even think about rephrasing another question, he continued.

"Come. I'll drive you to school".

He kissed the top of my head quickly and left the room. I was left feeling forlorn and utterly confused.

* * *

Things did not change. He drove me to school in silence. If he spoke it was only about trivialities like which classes I would have today or something else boring. It was like his mind were elsewhere. Again, I noticed him looking at me when he thought I didn't notice. I didn't understand it. Before I left he told me he had to meet the rest of the pack in the afternoon, and he didn't know how long it would take. He might not be able to come over until late, he said.

The day passed and my mood was low. That night I was sitting in the living room watching TV. I planned to confront him again. "I have a lot on my mind" was what he'd said. Not a valid explanation. What was he doing? Out with his pack? Or out with someone else? I got a lump in my throat. Maybe he'd met someone he didn't want me to know about. A girl. Someone. Hell, maybe he'd imprinted. I snorted. But then I thought about it again. What if he had. What if he did someday. Could I handle that? He would leave me empty. I would loose him. It grew darker and darker outside, and so did my mood. He didn't come.

I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up it was light outside and I was laying in my bed. I didn't remember walking up to my room.

"Hi"

I turned around and saw Jacob sitting on the bed beside me. He was holding my hand in an awkward position, as if he'd been holding it close to his cheek. He quickly let it go.

"You carried me up here?" I asked him.

"Yes" he said "You were already sleeping on the couch when I came in last night, I thought you'd be more comfortable here" His gaze cut to his hands.

"I'm sorry I was so late last night." he continued. "I had a lot of catching up to do, it's been a while since the last time I saw the others".

"That was what you were doing?" I asked, allowing a tiny drop of scepticism into my tone.

"Yes" he said earnestly, meeting my eyes.

How could I doubt that?

This day wasn't any different though. He was silent and thoughtful, and I knew something was up. I asked him about it twice that day, and then I asked again the next. It was almost as if he was avoiding me. Visiting Sam, visiting Billy, never asking me if I wanted to join him. He pretended he didn't understand what I was talking about.

"Why can't you just tell me?" I said, trying to hold his gaze.

"It's nothing" he said quietly.

"My ass"

He smiled then. A little bit. A real smile.

"What's so funny?" I almost screamed. This was so frustrating!

"You" he said, walking up in front of me wrapping his arms around me and kissing my forehead.

I was speechless. How could he give me a cold shoulder for so long and then, out of the blue, do something like this. I realised how much I'd missed his arms around me.

* * *

Friday night I had a nightmare. My dreams had been uneasy lately, all thanks to a special someone, but not as bad as this. In my dream, Jake told me he didn't want to see me anymore. He would leave. I asked why, but he was gone. I was standing alone in a dark, unfriendly forest. Suddenly he was there again, his arm wrapped around a pretty blonde girl. He didn't say anything. He didn't see me. He only saw her. I was devastated. Then the ground started to shake and something noisy was heading full speed right to where I was standing. I tried to run, tried to move my legs, but I could only move in slow motion. I knew I had to run, had to get away, but I couldn't. I screamed for Jake to help me, but he didn't hear me, didn't see me. The ground was quivering and something was holding me down...

"Nessie!"

It wouldn't let go. I couldn't run. I fought as hard as I could, but it only wrapped itself around me, arms and legs, refusing me to move. Tears started to stream down my face.

"Nessie..."

The grip loosened a little bit, and I didn't fight any longer. Something soft stroke against my cheek, wiping away the tears. I realised what had been holding me down was Jacob. I opened my eyes.

He was there, his face just a few inches from mine. His eyes were huge and filled with worry. My room was dark. We were laying on my bed, his body pressed up against mine after the effort of holding me down. His hand lingered on my face, stroking my cheek soothingly. My breath was heaving. He didn't say anything, but waited until I got my breathing under control. Then he kissed me.

It was warm, soft and totally unexpected. At the same time it felt so right. It was like finally finding the place of the last puzzle, but not quite understanding the picture in front of you. His lips were so soft and warm, moving carefully against mine. His arms around me tightened and his breath became uneven. It was a short kiss, very sweet and tender. It surprised me that when he moved away, I didn't want him to.

He laid down on the bed beside me, never taking his eyes from mine. His eyes were glowing. I tried to think, to make it all fit, but I couldn't.

"I'm confused" I managed to say.

He smiled, his eyes turning sad.

"I know. I'm sorry I've been acting all strange on you. I just didn't know what to do."

I didn't know what to say, so I said nothing. He reached for the blanket by the foot of the bed and wrapped it over me. I must have kicked it off in my sleep. He laid down beside me, taking my hand in his.

"First of all" he said, gazing into my eyes. "I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere"

"How did you kn..." I started. I didn't know my nightmare had been that easy to read.

"You showed me" he said apologetic, leading my hand up to his face. "Actually, you have the whole week."

Then I understood. He'd been watching my dreams. I didn't know if I was mad at him or not.

"Sick, I know. Feel free to be mad at me"

I'd forgotten my hand on his face, and how he could easily see all my thoughts. I removed my hand and laid it beside me on the mattress. He wrapped his own hand around it.

"Please, let me explain first. There is as reason for all this."

His voice became hoarse. I looked up at him, willing him to continue.

"Nessie, there's something I need to tell you."

Hour of truth.

* * *

**A.N: **_Thanks to my (two) reviewers, ha ha:P Next chapter coming up in a few days;)_


	3. Truth

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything. Stephenie Meyer does.

_Smashing Pumpkins – take me down. This is a really sweet song, and I think it suits beautifully to the whole Jacob-Nessie-imprinting-thing, and to this chapter. Youtube!_

* * *

**Truth**

"You know that I care for you, that I always have. Ever since I laid my eyes on you for the first time."

He looked down at our entwined hands, struggling to find the right words.

"You've been my little sister, my best friend, the one and only that really understand. All I ever wanted was for you to be safe, for you to be happy. You know that I love you".

A warm feeling started to spread in my stomach. It was not the first time he'd told me this; ever since I was a little girl he had always let me know that he cared for me. I knew he meant it in the meaning between friends, but it still warmed. He continued.

"You mean everything to me, and being with you have always been as easy as breathing. Then, in the last couple of weeks something started to change. I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but that night, on Monday, I understood what it was. I was afraid it would ruin everything, because I didn't know what you wanted and how to keep it from you"

I shook my head. "I'm not following you"

"I don't blame you" He laughed nervously. "I guess what I'm_ trying_ to say...is that..."

He drew a deep breath and I could hear his heartbeat accelerate.

"Nessie... I've imprinted."

The warm feeling turned to ice in my stomach. I felt all the blood drain from my face. I was right. I was going to loose him. Imprinters didn't have time for others than their imprintees. I felt dizzy.

"No, you don't understand!" he hurried to say, reading my face.

He put his hands on each side of my face. "It's you, I imprinted on you."

"What?" I managed to croak out.

He hugged me then, wrapping his big arms around me, pressing my face against his chest.

"It's you, silly, it's always been you. Don't you understand? Ever since the time I first laid eyes on you I've loved you. It's always been you."

He kissed the top of my head and pulled back to look at me.

"Feeling creeped out?"

I shook my head in a daze.

"Uhm. No. A little. It's just... how... why didn't you tell me?"

"I've always wanted you to have a choice. You _do_ have a choice. I was afraid that if I told you too soon you would feel like you _had_ to be with me, like that was expected of you. It's not. You can do exactly what you want, date whoever you'd like. I just want to be a part of your life."

"So all this time, since I was a little girl... you've..."

"Yes. But you knew this. You knew I loved you. You know how it's like, I've told you how it works before. Like Quil and Claire. You've been my little sister and my best friend. It was nothing romantic about it. Until..."

He suddenly stopped and looked down. The warm feeling in my stomach came back.

"Until?"

"Yeah," he said quietly, still looking down. "Some weeks ago it started to change. I wanted to be closer to you. I wanted to kiss you instead of hug you. It felt different than before. I didn't understand what it was, until this Monday. When you went to take that shower... "

He was still looking down and seemed too embarrassed to continue. I lifted my hand to his cheek. _Please..Tell me. _He peeked up at me before he turned his attention back to the sheets.

"I...You went to take a shower, and I just couldn't stop thinking about...I mean, I could hear..." he paused, and to my surprise I could see his cheeks redden. He cleared his throat shakily before he continued. Now he was talking so fast the words almost blurred together.

" I've never been feeling so guilty in my entire life. And then you came back, and... Well it didn't help. All I could think about was how much I wanted to go over to you, and kiss you, and hug you, and touch your hair... I couldn't tell you, because I knew you didn't have those feelings for me"

I drew my breath in disagreement, to say that he was wrong, he couldn't know that. But I couldn't get myself to say the words. He noticed though, and sent me a thoughtful look before he continued.

"I tried to act normal"

I snorted

"Well, I did!" he insisted with a smile. "I just didn't know how to. It felt like I could just look at you and you would know. I wanted to hold you and... But I was convinced you would notice that something was different. That this would ruin our friendship. So I didn't."

"Clever. That makes sense." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He gave me a quick grin.

"Probably not. I'm just a confused wolf"

Then he turned serious.

"You were sleeping uneasy. One night your hand touched my forehead all accidental, I swear, and I saw that you were dreaming about me. Worrying. And I just couldn't bring myself to stop watching. And tonight it was worse than ever. You dreamt that I would leave, that there were someone else. I had no idea that was what you thought. You couldn't have been more wrong. It wasn't right to keep this from you any longer."

His smile was nervous. I felt like my head was about to explode.

"So, what now?" I said. "What do we do?"

"What do you mean?" he said "We'll do whatever you want to do"

I closed my eyes. " I mean, what do we do about us. Does this mean that we can't be just friends anymore? Besides, it's weird. You've been in love with my mom. My _mom. _You've kissed her and everything. It's just...weird."

He was about to say something, but I cut him off.

"How did you manage to keep this from them anyway?" I opened my eyes. "My dad..."

He was looking intently at me, almost a little apologetic.

"They know?" I burst out. "Everyone know? They've known this all along, everyone but me?"

"Nessie. Of course they know. Even if your dad wasn't a mind-reader, something like this would be pretty hard to hide. You know why I didn't tell you. It's your choice, remember?"

I was speechless. This was just too much.

"So what now? I mean, do you need, like, an answer from me or something? Because I don't know. This is a lot to take in, Jake"

He started to shake his head while I was still talking.

"No. I just wanted you to know, so that you wouldn't make the wrong conclusions. We'll be friends. Best friend. Don't think about it".

I turned around in his arms and buried my face in the pillow.

"I don't know Jake"

He froze.

"You don't want to be friends with me?" he said slowly.

"Off course I will, stupid"

I peeked up at him and felt his arms relax around me.

"I just..." I hesitated, trying to find a way to phrase it. "I guess I'm just not sure how to. I'm afraid it would be awkward, like it has been this week. I don't want that."

"It won't be." he shoot in "You know now".

" I'm afraid that we would loose the friendship we have. I mean if we were to be more than friends, if that happens..."

Jacob lay very still, listening. His arms around me tightened marginally.

"...then what if we find out that it doesn't work out, or something, and things get awkward again. I can't loose you as a bestfriend Jake. Ever. So I don't know, even though I have feelings for you. You're too important."

He put his hand under my chin and turned my head up so that he could look at me. His eyes were wondering.

"You said you have feelings for me?"

I blushed. I guess I did say that. Well it was true. Sort of. I think. Definitely. Maybe.

I looked down. "I think so. But I think I still see you mostly as a friend. I don't know. "

He smiled his most Jacobish smile – warm and radiant. My answer had clearly made him happy. I smiled back.

* * *

We lay like this for a while. I studied his face, and he studied mine. I still couldn't quite believe what just had happened – it _was_ a lot to take in. I remembered my earlier fears; that Jake had met someone else. I'd even considered he'd imprinted on someone. Hell, I'd been right, too. He _had _imprinted. Only seven years ago, and on me. That was an unexpected twist. _Imprinting. _Weird thing. To have someone chosen for you, not to be able to choose freely...

"Jake." I burst out, realizing something, my voice alarmed.

"What is it?"

"Imprinting. It's...forced, isn't it? You don't really have a choice. You could imprint on a horrible person, one you actually hate, and not be able to do anything about it."

"Well, it's true that you can't choose who you will imprint on. But..."

"So you simply _had_ to feel like this, you didn't have a choice. If it weren't for the imprinting you wouldn't even like me, we wouldn't even be friends. You don't love me by your own free will."

I was horrified. All my life, everything with Jake, was because of this. It wasn't real. It was forced into happening by some freaky, wolfy rule. Like drinking a love potion – it happens, but it's not _real._ I got myself up in a sitting position, close to hysteria.

"No, Nessie, you've got it all wrong"

Jacob got up and wrapped his hands around each side of my face, forcing me to meet his eyes.

"It's not like that. The imprinting happens because it is _perfect. _It's like two parts of the one piece. The other half. If you weren't perfect for me, if I weren't perfect for you – it wouldn't have happened. And lets say the whole imprint-thing didn't exist – don't you think I would have loved you anyway? If you were _perfect_, the one and only person in the world that was _right?_ I definitely love you by my own, free will. Don't you worry about _that_"

I nodded slowly, looking down. I was feeling dizzy again. It was just too much. He hugged me then, leaning my head against his broad chest.

"I love you", he said for emphasis. "For ever, if you want me to".

He lay back down on the bed, and opened his arms for me to lie down beside him. He draped the blanket over the both of us and put his arm under my head. I curled up against his side and closed my eyes. It felt good. It was all terribly confusing, but good.

"I'm going to need some time", I whispered, my eyes still closed. He knew what I meant.

"I've got all the time in the world. This is your choice."

"I just need to adjust to it. Get used to it."

"Of course. You're taking this remarkably well, you know. I was sure you was going to freak out, like, more."

He laughed nervously as he leaned his head on top of mine, and I felt my eyes close.


	4. Turtle

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything, this all belongs to Stephenie Meyer. _

_**A.N: **We left the love birds asleep in Nessies room, after Jacob told her everything..._

* * *

**Turtle**

I must have dozed off after that, because the next time I opened my eyes my room was filled with light. I was still snuggled up next to Jake. He was looking at me, smiling when I met his eyes. His hand were stroking up and down my arm. It felt actually quite good.

"Good morning." he said. "What are you up for today?"

"It's Saturday"

"Yup"

This meant also a break from school. One week without thinking about school at all. I inhaled deeply and rubbed my eyes.

"First of all I think I'm up for a shower"

Then I remembered something he'd told me earlier that night, and a giggle escaped my lips.

"What?" He said, puzzled. I very rarely giggle.

"There are earplugs in the drawer, if you need them" I teased.

He realized then, and mock-punched my shoulder ruefully .

"Ha, ha. Very funny"

I reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before planning to get out of bed. But then I hesitated. His face was so close to mine. He was so warm and so soft. I wanted to be even closer to him. I was surprised by myself as I realized a kiss on the forehead wasn't what I really wanted.

"I just... want to try...something" I whispered.

His breath was warm. He smelled so good. He smelled like Jacob, my Jacob. I leaned down a little bit closer. At first he looked surprised, but then his arm tightened around me and he placed his hand on my waist, pulling me closer. I could hear his heartbeat accelerate.

"This doesn't mean anything" I warned him. He nodded slightly in agreement, focusing on my lips only.

" I just...want to see..." I leaned even closer. Our noses touched as I turned my head to the right. I looked into his eyes at the same time he looked into mine. Jacob. My Jacob. My best friend.

"Man, this is weird" I stopped and looked down. He was my friend. Best buddy. To be kissing him would be like kissing...Oh, I dunno.

He put his hand under my chin and lifted my head back up. His eyes were glowing, and he seemed both amazed and amused. He put his hand on my cheek and I rested my head in his hand. He caressed my cheekbone with his thumb. I leaned down a little closer as he moved his hand to rest behind my neck. And then I kissed him. My body turned all warm from head to toe. His lips were so soft against mine, and a tingling feeling spread all the way down to my toes. Again I got the feeling that this was _right, _this was _good. _His hand buried in my hair and he held me even closer to him. This kiss was different than our first. His lips were more enthusiastic, and not as hesitant as before. The hand that wasn't buried in my hair was stroking at the small of my back. I placed my own hands carefully around his neck and by doing that I unintentionally sent him images of what we were doing from _my_ point of view. He moaned and pressed himself against me, intensifying the kiss, and it made me smile.

He broke the kiss, breathing heavily. His eyes were filled with wonder and his whole frame was simply radiating. He shook his head like in a daze.

"Didn't mean anything, remember.." I whispered. But with my hands still on his neck, he knew that wasn't true. He knew it had meant a lot. To me.

* * *

For the past month I had needed to keep my hands to myself, in the non-groping-sense. I still preferred to share my thoughts simply by touching everybody's faces, but lately I'd found it more difficult to concentrate. My thoughts had gotten the habit of drifting away to other things, unthinkable things, Jacob-things. I couldn't for instance touch Jacobs cheek with the intention of asking him if he could pass the popcorn, when all I could think about was how soft his cheek felt against my fingers. Well, my dad was a lost case; he knew everything anyway, but with the others it had gotten more difficult. Specially with Jacob.

I was insecure, and needed time to adjust to it all. I saw Jacob in two ways: the always-bestbuddie-mockpunch-Jacob and this new, surprisingly handsome Jacob that I was not content to be just friends with. I wanted to keep both of them, but at the moment, the bestbuddie-Jacob was the one I saw the most. But oh, New-Jacob was there, most definitely. I realized I had seen him more and more often lately. Sometimes I saw both, mixed together, the lines all blurry. Maybe this was a good thing.

Jacob jumped down beside me on the front porch, waking me from my metaphoric thoughts.

"Ready to go?"

"Mhm" I smiled.

We were headed out to hunt; it had been a while since last time. Jacob rarely ate when we were out hunting, but he always wanted to keep me company. Guess I knew why now. Gah.

"Ooor... do you need me to wake you up first? Earth to Nessie."

"Hey, I hear you" I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed.

"Normal place?"

"Sounds good"

I turned my head in the opposite direction, as I always did, to let him change and phase without ruining his clothes. For the first time it felt weird to do so, and I wondered if I really wanted, needed to look away... I slapped myself mentally. Of course I did.

Something wet poked me in the neck. I turned my head back and was looking into the eyes of my favourite wolf. I sent him a smile while biting my lip, and in the next second I was on his back and he was running through the forest. We had done this so many times it was routine.

I always sat on his back when we were out hunting. This was because he was many times faster than me; I was the turtle in the family. Downside by being half-human. It didn't really matter though; I had Jake.

The thought warmed me and I buried my face down in his long fur. He made a deep rumble. We were headed to our normal place, a beautiful clearing not far from the house. I loved being with Jacob like this. I _knew _this, it was not new and confusing. He barked a laugh as he ran. My hands were resting on his forehead, just in front of his ears and I realized he could see all of my thoughts. I'd forgot. I seemed to do that a lot lately. He barked another laugh. _Its' not polite to eavesdrop._ He made an arguing, playful sound that clearly said "Hey, don't you blame it on me", and it was my turn to laugh.

We reached the clearing then. It was a beautiful open space, the sun only overshadowed by a large tree standing alone in the middle of the clearing. There was the sound of a river floating nearby. Jacob walked over to the tree to let me down, so that he could go behind the tree to phase. I remembered when he'd phased back by the house and was glad I didn't have the turn-away-dilemma this time. Not that it was a dilemma. Another mental-slap.

Suddenly Jake stopped and turned his face to the side. I thought he'd heard something, so I listened to. But he just barked, quizzically. And I realized I still had my hands on his forehead. He'd heard. About the whole phasing-thing. I quickly removed my hands and felt my face redden. I jumped down and went over to sit by the tree without looking at him. This was embarrassing.

Just a few seconds afterwards he was there, dressed only in his usual light shorts.

"What was all that about?" he asked, a teasing smile playing in his face as he sat beside me.

"It's nothing. Never mind"

I looked away, not facing him.

"You get uncomfortable when I phase?"

I didn't see his face, but I could hear his smile there. A little smirk. He was teasing me.

"No I don't, shut up" I snapped.

I wasn't angry with him, I was embarrassed. And he knew it.

"Okay, okay, I'll drop it..."

I heard him settle beside me, leaning against the tree. I turned around to send him a suspicious glare. It wasn't like him to drop anything. Especially something that included him getting a good joke on my behalf and me getting red with embarrassment. He'd closed his eyes, but he had a content smirk on his face that made me even more suspicious.

"You know, if you would enjoy seeing me naked, you just have to ask" he said, opening one eye to grin at me.

I knew it.

In one movement I'd pushed him over and he was laying on the ground howling with laughter. I was on my feet, red like a tomato.

"At least I don't listen to people showering" It was the best I could come up with.

"Aww, come on, Nessie, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at your reaction!" he grinned, propping himself up on the elbow. "You're kind of cute when you're embarrassed".

"Hmph"

"Actually" his face was more sober now "I am glad I found out what you were thinking. I'm feeling the same way."

"Huh? You what?"

That didn't make sense. I didn't phase into anything, and he would have no reason to see in another direction.

"I would really like for you to watch me phase, Nessie. I think I'm might becoming a nudist."

And then he burst out laughing one more time. Ha ha. Very funny. Let's all make jokes at my behalf. I still heard him laugh at his own joke as I turned on the heel and ran into the forest. _He _might make jokes, but I didn't have to listen to them. Time to hunt.

* * *

30 minutes and one deer later I was still embarrassed but pretending not to be. I knew he saw right through me though. Jacob had joined me, again in his wolf form. Now he was sprawled out under a tree, following me with lazy eyes. He hadn't been hunting.

I walked over to him, holding my head high not really meeting his eyes. He made a little arguing sound. I sighed and looked into his eyes. Puppy eyes. Of course. He jumped up on his feet and leaned down in front of me so that his eyes were level with mine. He looked into my eyes for a couple of seconds. His eyes were huge; apologetic and teasing at the same time. He knew I wasn't angry with him. Suddenly he moved closer and licked my face from chin to forehead.

"Yuck" I complained, drying my face with my arm.

He barked a laugh and I started to laugh as well. This was so _Jacob,_ transforming awkward moments into good ones. He turned around and I climbed up on his back. I placed my hands on his forehead, on purpose this time. _Don't you make a habit out of that, _I thought, replaying the licking-on-my-face part in my head. He just barked another laugh before he started to run back home.

When we got back I went straight to the house not looking back.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going inside. You just go ahead and phase. No more nudist-jokes, thank you." I said while opening the door.

I didn't make it to the kitchen though.

"Hey."

Jacob turned me around, his hand on my shoulder. As normal, he was only wearing shorts. He was smiling, but seemed a little unsure.

"You know I'm just joking with you. You're not mad"

I smiled back

"Of course I'm not, Jake"

His smile broadened.

"Just checking"

"Oh, you knew"

He pressed his lips together, pretending to be thinking.

"Yup, guess I did"

I started to laugh, and he held my gaze for a few seconds longer than normal.

"You want to come to La Push tonight?" he blurted out "There's gonna be a bonfire"

I love La Push-bonfires.

"Oh, I can't. I'm going to Tina tonight" I just remembered. "Girls night. Sort of. But you know I would have loved to come"

"Oh, that was tonight.... Right. I'll drive you."

"You don't have to. I am actually capable of driving myself" I teased " Besides, you're going to that bonfire. But maybe I could drop by later?"

"If I drive you, I'll be able to spend more time with you. Do the math". He grinned. "But right now I have to go down to Emilys' place to talk to Sam; he wanted me to come over. And I'll probably drop by Billy on the way back too. But it won't take long"

"Okay. I'll see you soon then. Say hi from me. And by the way. I don't have a problem with you phasing. Just so you know".

I sent him a quick smile.

"Actually It was kind of nice. Knowing I'm not all alone in having those feelings."

He kissed the top of my head, and then he was gone.

I was left wondering, a little hot-headed. What feelings? _Those _feelings? He had _those_ feelings?

* * *

_**A.N: **Remember to push the magic button, people. It's named 'Review'...Tell me what you think:)_


	5. Unexpected

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything. Wish i did. Stephenie Meyer does. _

_Kings of Leon - Sex on fire. _

_Thank you so much for the reviews!:) Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it!_

* * *

**Unexpected**

Maybe it was a good idea to get out and about for a little while. Just to have some time to think and get my head under control. Me and Jake were good, it wasn't awkward. Much. But that didn't mean it was not confusing. It felt like my thoughts were eating my brain from the inside.

Tina was a girl in my class. Her parents were divorced, and this week she was staying with her dad in Port Angeles. A drive to Port Angeles took about one hour, maybe a little more. I didn't mind. Especially not since Jacob would be driving me. Confusing or not, he was still my favourite person in the world.

He picked me up in the rabbit around five. The car was warm and comfortable, the radio buzzing in the background. We didn't talk as we drove out to the main road. It was a comfortable silence, though. As we got to the main road, Jake started to speed up.

He sent me a quick smile.

"You look good. As always"

He had always called me beautiful, ever since I was a little girl. This was the first time he'd ever said it in a shy manner. Did he blush just a little bit? I couldn't tell.

"Thanks" I said, smiling brightly. I was wearing dark blue jeans and a black halter-neck top and a jacket. Nothing too-much. I wasn't a very jewellery-girl.

"So, what are you planning to do tonight? Going out in town?"

Jacob had returned his gaze to the road, staring steadily on the road in front of him. His hand tightened around the steering wheel, and he suddenly seemed a little tense.

"No, I don't think so. I guess we're just going to stay at her house."

"Oh. Okay". His hand relaxed.

I was used to hanging out with my human friends now. Off course, they knew nothing of what I was, or my parents, or Jake, so the first couple of months I constantly had to control myself so I didn't slip and say or show something I shouldn't. Now it wasn't a problem – I'd gone used to it. It wasn't as relaxing as talking to Jacob, I had to admit, but it was fun and girly. They had gotten used to _my_ weirdness as well – like the fact that I was always warm and how I could hear people arriving long before anyone else could ( I _did_ sometimes forget to act all human...).

The next hour past by quickly. We talked now and then, we listened to the radio, and I couldn't stop laughing when Jake jokingly started to sing along with one of his favourite songs. Sometimes, like now, it was so _easy. _Not awkward or confusing.I still couldn't really believe he'd imprinted on me. The warm feeling in my stomach came back.

We reached Port Angeles, and I guided him to Tinas house. It was just across the cinema, so I told him I could just meet him there when he picked me up later. He parked the car in front of the cinema, and followed me to her house. When we reached the stairs he stopped and turned towards me. I smiled nervously.

"Just call when you want to get home" he said.

"Sure. Thanks" I said.

He put a lock of my hair behind my ear. My knees started to shiver.

"Have fun"

He leaned down and gently kissed my cheek. Then he gave me a quick smile before he left. It all happened really fast. I stood there looking after him a couple of seconds, feeling hot-headed again.

* * *

"What is going _on_ between you two?"

They had been peeking through the curtains. Of course. I was squeezed in between Tina and Jeanette on a tiny sofa. We'd been offered pizza ( I said I'd already eaten – which was sort of true) and something to drink. Five of the girls from my class were there – now with their eyes directed on me.

"We're not dating or anything, we're just... I don't know exactly." Now this was true. "I like him".

"Haven't you always?"

"He _is _gorgeous, you know"

"It had to happen sometime."

"I've always been thinking there was something more between you"

"Hey, hey" I laughed, taking a sip of the wine. "Calm down, we're _not_ dating".

"Just kissing?"

"Noo...we'll just...see what happens"

This led to a new round of questioning before I managed to lead them over to a new subject.

A few hours and a pair of wineglass later we were still squeezed together in Tinas small living-room. We'd been babbling and discussing and giggling and laughing until we had no breath left. It had been very relaxing, actually. The clock was almost eleven and some of the girls started to think about heading home. I had already called Jacob to ask him to come get me: it would still be a little while before he was here.

"It has been so fun hanging out with you guys tonight" I said. "We should do this more often"

"Next time we'll go to the Pavement, that would be cool" Sophie emptied the rest of her wine.

Pavement was a club in Port Angeles where most underaged girls normally tried to sneak into. I wasn't really a fan of clubs, but if the other girls wanted to go out, then I would go to. It wasn't that I didn't like it, I just liked La Push-bonfires better, as a comparison.

When I figured Jake would arrive any minute, I hugged Tina goodbye and stepped outside to be there when he came. It was chilly outside. I started to walk towards the cinema, across the road. There was still some cars parked there, but no people outside. He would be here any moment.

I'd only been drinking one glass of wine tonight, so it didn't affect me. I didn't drink often (or much); I'd just tasted it a few times with the girls. Alcohol didn't really have the same effect on me anyway. I reached the other side of the road and walked over to the corner of the cinema, so that Jacob would see me as soon as he arrived. It had been a good night. I caught myself being quite excited to meet Jacob again. I still couldn't believe he'd imprinted on me. I almost giggled out loud. I seemed to giggle a lot today.

I was so busy thinking about Jacob and everything that had happened that day, that I almost didn't hear the sound from behind me. But I heard it; I do have better hearing than the average human. Just when I turned around, something hard hit me in the head and I fell to my knees. It all went black and I couldn't see anything.

* * *

My mind was flying in and out of focus; my head hurt so bad it was hard to concentrate. A pair of rough hands yanked my arm. I heard the heavy breathing from a man. I am a lot stronger than any human, but I couldn't find my strength; my head was screaming with pain. I managed to open my eyes, and I realised the man had been dragging me into the dark alley beside the cinema. I couldn't see him properly but I knew it was a man. With all the strength I could muster I yanked my arm away from his hard grip. It worked. I fell to the ground, scraping the backside of my hands and knees. I felt another blow to my head – this time he hit me in the face, so hard I landed on my back in front of him. A blow like that would have gotten any ordinary person unconscious in a second. I could see him now. He was a huge man, towering over me. I could see his silhouette against the light glow from the moon. He was wearing dark clothes and a hood. I couldn't see his face, it was to dark.

I started to crawl away, but he didn't allow that. He yanked me back by the foot and grabbed my top, tearing it. I tried to kick him back, but I couldn't. I wanted to scream, but I didn't have any breath left. I tried to get up, but he grabbed a fistful of my hear and kicked me back again. My head hit the ground with a thud and my vision got all blurry. He landed on top of me and I saw him aiming his fist towards my face. It would have been a good aimed punch, had it not been for the man jumping over him, pushing him away from me in the next second.

I heard someone yell in surprise and a loud thud when they hit the ground. I heard a lot of movement and heavy breathing. The sound of running steps, cut off with the sound of more movement. Then some running steps again. I tried to sit up, but whimpered and closed my eyes instead.

"Nessie!" Jacob was beside me, leaning over me. "Renesmee! Can you hear me? Oh, Ness. Come on..."

I opened my eyes. Jacob was leaning over me, his hand caressing my face, his eyes terrified. Jacob. He was here. It was okay now. Relief swirled through me. The world was spinning.

He carefully lifted me up in his arms and carried me over to his car. The next thing I knew I was sitting in the front seat, and he was leaning over me pressing something to my forehead.

"I'm okay" I managed to croak out. "It's not so blurry now"

I could see much clearer, even though my head felt like it was filled with iron. But most of all I was just relieved that Jacob had found me in time.

"I think we should get you to a doctor"

"You know we can't, my body temperature is as hot as yours. They would freak out. And really, I'm getting much better "

Since I was half vampire, going to a human doctor was out of the question. Besides, I didn't really need it. I _was _strong. I blinked a couple times and managed to sit up more straight and look around. The car door was open, and Jacob was kneeling on the ground beside me. There was noone else on the parking lot.

"Where is he? What happened?"

Jacobs face went from concern to anger. "He ran away. I could easily have followed him but I didn't want to leave you alone. Are you sure you're feeling better? You're bleeding"

He was still pressing a t-shirt against my forehead. I replaced his hand with mine to hold it myself.

"Can we get away from here, please?"

"Yes" he said curtly. He sent me a long look before he got up and closed the car door. In no time he was sitting in the drivers seat beside me, the engine running. He quickly drove out of the parking lot, away from the cinema. He sped up at once, driving way faster than the speed limit. I heard the honking of a horn. The world was running past the car window. Still dizzy.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Dizzy. And my head hurts. But I'm okay. I think"

My voice sounded weak. It had all happened so fast it felt like my brain didn't manage to keep up. I wasn't sure if I had realized what had just happened. I wasn't used to feeling this defenceless. I had always been stronger than any human. Stronger, faster. Compared to my family and the wolves I was neither, of course, but that was different. I noticed that I was shivering.

"Nessie, what happened? How long did he..what did he..what happened?"

I noticed Jacobs voice was weak and shivering too. His knuckles were almost white because he was gripping the steering wheel so hard.

"I was....I was just standing there...waiting for you. And then I heard a sound, and when I turned around...he must have hit me in the head with a bat or something. Everything went black, but then I managed to focus. And then...he...he..."

I realized that tears were streaming silently down my face. I didn't want to cry, but I couldn't stop them. I was probably reacting to it all a little too late.

Jacob reached out to touch my face.

"Nessie" he whispered.

The car slowed down. Jacob drove off the main road and parked the car in front of a little shop selling furnitures. It was closed. We had reached the outside of Port Angeles.

As soon as he'd parked the car he turned to me. He placed his hands on each side of my face, looking into my eyes. His eyes were frightened.

"Nessie" he said again, in a low voice. He cleared his throat. "That man. Did he...touch you in any way? Did he....he didn't..."

He didn't seem to be able to get the words out. But I understood.

"No" I said. "Nothing like that"

Jacob closed his eyes as in relief. When he opened them again they were still agonised.

"I was there in time then"

"No. I mean, yes, you were, but..." I struggled to find the right words. "I don't think that was what he was after."

I didn't get the impression that the man had attacked me for that reason. All the time he had tried to punch me in the head, to try make me unconscious. That wasn't normal was it? If a potential rapist stumbled over a girl late at night, all coincidental, the first thing to do wouldn't be to attack her in the head with a bat, was it? It didn't make sense.

"I just don't get _why." _I continued_ "_Why me? What was he trying to do? The motive?"

Jacob didn't answer. He just looked at me, as if silently telling me the motive was obvious.

"I don't think so." I said, responding to his silent look "It just doesn't make sense."

"You don't think so?"

His eyes glanced unintentionally down to my top. I looked down and noticed that it was almost torn in two down the middle. I hadn't noticed before. I was basically sitting in my bra. I realised why he had come to the conclusion that he had.

"Oh"

I suddenly got self concious, shifting uneasy in my seat. Without a word Jacob reached into the backseat of the car to find an old blanket. He quickly wrapped it around me. I looked up into his face.

"Thank you"

He looked down at his hands and his voice became agonised again.

"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I should have come sooner"

Then, suddenly he turned around and slammed his hands on the steering wheel

"Damn! I should have run after him. He shouldn't get away with this, doing this to you."

"Hey." I tried to hold his gaze, and he finally met my eyes. "I'm fine, remember? I'm fine, thanks to you. Don't think about it"

He smiled a tiny, sad smile.

"How can I not?"

He raised his hand and caressed my face with his fingertips. It felt good, and warmed me inside. I closed my eyes. I heard him lean towards me and felt his lips touch the side of my forehead that wasn't covered in his t-shirt.

I opened my eyes.

"I think I might have ruined your t-shirt" I noted, trying to lighten the mood a little bit.

"I'll survive"

He almost smiled, and I almost smiled too.

"Thank you, Jacob" I said again, meeting his eyes. "I'm so glad I have you".

He studied my face for a long time.

"I'm just thankful I found you in one piece" he said earnest. "Now. Let's get you home"

He tore his eyes away from me and started the engine. As we drove onto the main road, I leaned back, wrapping the blanket more tightly around me. My head was aching and I had some sore spots, but all in all I felt better. My sight wasn't blurry, and I was warm under the blanket. The worst shock had left, and Jacob was there. Jacob. I settled into watching him, resting my head to the side. He sent me a little smile now and then, and sometimes he just turned to look at me.

While I was watching him I realized how much he actually meant to me. He had _always_ been there for me, _always. _He'd played with me when I was a little girl, always kept me entertained. He'd comforted me and listened to my silly problems. He'd always saved me from uneasy situations. He'd been there my whole life, always putting my needs in front of his own. I remembered asking him once why he never had a girlfriend (in mind and body I guess I was about 10, so I'm excused) He'd laughed and said he didn't need a girlfriend when he had me. Now, that suddenly got a whole new meaning.

I realized Jacob hadn't had a girlfriend since long before I was born. ( Mom didn't count. I chose not to think too closely about that.) I remembered having crushes at different guys at school. Maybe not crushes, exactly, more thinking that he was cute, he was handsome. I got an embarrassed lump in my throat when I realized how Jake must have felt when he heard; I _had _been talking about it loudly with my girlfriends when he was around. Of course, I had always thought he was handsome too, more than anyone else. But he'd always been the forbidden fruit; the bestfriend you simply just don't fall in love with. I studied his neck and how his hair gloved each time we drove past a street light. I wanted to touch it, run my hand through it. I watched him the entire road home.

We reached the house and I stepped out of the car, bringing the blanket with me. My head felt so heavy it was difficult to hold my eyes open. Jacob wrapped his arm around me, and as soon as we came inside, I went into the bathroom. I stood there, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I looked like hell. There was dried blood all over the right side of my forehead and in my hair. I had a cut just above the eyebrow. My right chin was scratched and was probably going to get a heavy bruise. I had been bleeding from my lip, and it was a little swollen. My palms were bloody as well, from landing on the hard pavement.

Jacob entered the bathroom. He placed his arm around my shoulder and stood there beside me, looking into the mirror.

"It will get better when you wash off the blood" he said, trying to comfort me.

I swallowed.

"I guess"

He turned to look at me then, before he leaned down and kissed my neck just under my jawline. My stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies, for some reason.

"I'll be outside"

He silently walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

* * *

I washed my hands and my hair carefully. After taking a shower it felt a little bit better. I had managed to wash away all the blood, and I had cleaned the cut on my forehead. I combed my hair, brushed my teeth and changed into an oversized t-shirt. I was going to bed and nothing could stop me. It had been a very long day.

I left the bathroom and went into my room. Jacob was lying on my bed, looking up when I entered. He opened his arms without a word, and I laid down on the bed next to him. He tucked me in under the blanket and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I rested my head against his chest and closed my eyes. I felt perfectly safe, right there in his arms.

"Did you have a nice time earlier, with your friends?" he murmured.

"Mhm" I said without opening my eyes. "It was fun. How about you?"

"I went to the bonfire. It was okay, but you should have been there"

"Yes" I mumbled, sleep heavy in my voice "I'll never say no to a bonfire again"

He hugged me closer to his chest. Now he did I again; comforting me, trying to make me feel better. I realized I'd been selfish, thinking about how _I _was adjusting to things. What about Jacob? What about what he wanted? I opened my eyes. No more being unsure. No more thinking about _me. _I snuggled closer to his chest and wrapped my arm around him. I heard him sigh, and he hugged me tight to him, in a long, warm hug. I reached out and planted a soft kiss by the side of his neck.

"Nessie" he whispered in my ear.

His voice sounded far, far away as I drifted into sleep.

_A.N: Remember to review:)_


	6. Wolfkisses

_**Discalimer: **I don't own anything, it all belongs to Stephenie Meyer..._

_A.N: Thank you for reviewing! Its great to get your opinion on things:) _

**

* * *

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**Wolf-kisses**

When I woke the next day, my room was filled with light. Jacobs arms were still around me, holding me closely to him. He was still asleep. I peeked over his shoulder to my alarm clock. It shoved 1 pm. We had been sleeping for a while.

I still felt horrible. My head was aching. But most of all I just felt vulnerable. I wasn't used to feeling like this. So fragile. Noone had ever wanted me any harm before, not like this.

I touched Jacobs lips. His breath was warm, as always. He didn't react. I touched his lips again. His eyelids moved a little. Slowly he opened his eyes.

_Good morning,_ I thought.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly. His arm tightened around me. It hit me that we had never been sleeping this close before, his arms holding me this tight.

"Okay" I didn't want to complain. I think he saw right through me, though.

"Anything you feel like doing today?" He frowned as he took in my face. I must look horrible. Didn't care.

"Nah. Not really. I just feel like... not doing much." I finished awkwardly.

"How about we go and visit Billy?"

I thought about that. It sounded relaxing.

"That sounds good. We could do that. I'll probably frighten him the way I look though."

"Yeah, maybe it's not a good idea" he said, frowning again. "You could give him a heart attack"

He looked up at me through his lashes, a little smile lurking in the corner of his mouth. He was joking.

"Oh, shut up" I threw a pillow at him, and the little smirk turned into laughter. I even laughed a little bit myself.

"I knew I could get you to smile" he said, and put the pillow back over his head. He looked at me, and after a while his smile disappeared and he slowly turned serious. "But really, how are you feeling?

"I'm better" I said. That was true. I smiled and put my hand on his cheek before I went into the bathroom.

I pinned my hair up in a pony tail and found one of Jakes sweaters and pulled it on. I was right. I looked horrible. My right cheek was now covered in a bright purple bruise. It looked like I'd been in a fight and I had a slight resemblance to a panda. I said this to Jacob.

"Don't you always?" was his reply. Joking again. Ha ha.

This lead to another round of laughter as I accused him of resembling to another certain animal.

* * *

"You're cheeky today" I pointed out later. I was sitting opposite him on the kitchen, watching him eat breakfast.

"Well it works. You're laughing"

"So this is your new plan? "How to make Renessme laugh"? Or maybe I should call it a mission"

He took another huge bite of the bread but that didn't stop him from answering.

"You're right. Today my mission is to make you smile. I'm doing pretty good, huh?"

He sent me a teasing smile

"You're doing alright" I admitted, and he laughed

We drove in his car over to Billys'. It was a beautiful day, the sun peeking through the clouds. We got out of the car and Jacob entered first without knocking.

"Dad?" He called, throwing of his shoes. "You home?"

"In here"

Billy was sitting by the kitchen table, reading the newspaper. He looked up when we entered.

"Oh, hey kids, you coming to...."

I had entered the kitchen behind Jake, and when Billy saw my face he abruptly stopped what he was about to say.

"Nessie! What happened to you?"

I sat down on a chair beside Jacob, and Jake answered before I even got to open my mouth.

"Nessie was assaulted last night"

Billy burst into a round of questioning, sending me frightened and concerned glances. Jacob told him everything that had happened. I was glad he did; I didn't really feel like talking about it. I sat beside him as he talked, not really paying attention to his words, focusing on the patterns in the wooden kitchen table in front of me.

"How are you feeling today, Nessie?" Billy turned towards me, his voice filled with concern. "Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?"

"Yes, I'm sure." I tried to reassure him. "I'm fine"

"Maybe it would have been wise to let Carlisle have a look at you. When do your family come back?"

"I think by the end of the week. I'm not sure. But there's no need for it, really. I'm okay"

"Have you told your parents about what happened?

I met his eyes, but didn't answer. I knew I had to call them, but I didn't look forward to it. Both my mom and dad would flip out and insist on coming home. I was fine, really, and there was no need to ruin their trip. I didn't want them to feel like they needed to come home because of _me. _

"You have to tell them". Billy read my silence correctly, sending me a slight lecturing look.

"I know" I sighed. "I will"

We stayed at Billys the next couple of hours. Jake and I went for a walk down the beach, helped him move some furnitures, and then Jake and I made dinner. We ate in the tiny kitchen, and after cleaning the dishes we headed home.

* * *

I knew I had to call my parents. When we arrived home, I went inside and called my dads number. My dad was more likely to listen to the whole story _before_ he flipped out. My mom would probably freak out at once. He answered on the second ring.

"Yes?"

"Hi, dad"

"Nessie". He sounded pleased "How are you?"

"Um... I'm okay. Me and Jake have just been visiting Billy"

It was silent for one beat.

"Is something wrong?"

He was good. Years and years of practise, I guess.

"Listen, don't get upset now, okay? I'm fine, really..."

I carefully told him about what had happened last night, trying to tone it down a little bit, not giving him any details. When I was done, he was silent for another beat.

"We're coming"

I knew this would happen. I spent the next thirty minutes trying to convince him that I was fine and that there was no need for them to come home. He finally gave in, demanding to talk to Jacob.

I reached the phone to Jacob. He had been leaning over the kitchen table, listening to me trying to convince my dad.

My dad talked to Jacob for a little while, and I waited nervously. After a while, Jacob put the phone back on the shelf and turned to me.

"He just wanted to make sure you really weren't strapped to a hospital bed."

"Of course" I said, rolling my eyes and Jacob smiled.

Suddenly he bent down and lifted me up, throwing me across his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down!" I screamed, startled, but he was totally unaffected. He carried me to the living room and carefully put me down on the couch. Then he almost buried me in one of the blankets as he wrapped it around me. He lay halfway down on the couch beside me, leaning over me and supporting his head on his arm.

"There" he said, content. "I think you should stay there for the rest of the evening. Stop distressing and worrying about everything."

I looked up into his eyes. He was studying my face, thoughtful. A sudden rush of affection ran through me, and I frowned. He was so _good._ Kind. I didn't know how to show him how grateful I was for that.

"Jake" My voice came out in a whisper. I didn't really know what to say.

With one finger he caressed my cheekbone, right where I knew I had a bruise. He was frowning now, too. He caressed my face all the way down to my chin, before he cupped my cheek in his large hand. His skin was so soft. I wanted to touch it, feel his skin on mine. Carefully I stroke my thumb across his chin and lower lip. There was a slight changing in the atmosphere as he leaned down closer, focusing on my lips only.

And then my cellphone rang.

His eyes didn't leave mine as he got up to get it for me. He picked it up from the table and tossed it to me across the room.

"It's Bella" he said "She's probably calling to argue about that not-coming-home-part"

He was right.

* * *

After spending another thirty minutes trying to convince my mother that I was not on the edge of a nervous breakdown, I found myself sitting in the couch with Jacob sharing a bucket of ice-cream. We were both sitting cross-legged on the couch, facing each other.

"Best concert memory?" I asked, my eyes focused on my spoon.

"That concert in Hoquiam. Last year. The day after your birthday."

"Really?"

"Mhm. You were thrilled afterwards"

He scooped up some more ice-cream.

"My turn. Best kiss?"

"That's not fair!" I argued.

"Why not?"

"Well, I've... I've kissed you! It's not fair"

"No rules against that" he said with a wicked grin. "Same question"

"I pass"

"Now, _that_ is against the rules" He tried to send me a strict look. "Same question".

I sighed.

"Al right al right. I like wolf-kisses. That's the best answer you'll get from me."

"Hey. What do you mean by that? Wolf kisses? Like, kissing someone that is a wolf or getting licked in the face by a wolf?"

I didn't answer, but scooped up some more ice.

"Aww, come on!" he pleaded, but I didn't even let him get started with the puppy-eyes.

"Not a chance. My turn." I said. "Um, let me see... best practical joke."

"Oh, that's a long story, but it ended up with Quill wearing a ballerina skirt. It was hilarious."

"You're gonna have to tell me about that sometime"

"I will. But now it's my turn. Best wolf-kiss."

"You're totally pushing the line here"

He grinned.

"I know. Same question"

Luckily for me, we were interrupted by the sound of paws approaching.

"Your friends?" I asked.

"Yes, I think so" he said, listening. "I wonder what they want"  
"You think there's something wrong?"

"No, they would have made a noise if there was"

I got up to put away the the rest of the ice-cream. Jacob leaned back on the couch, smirking.

"I won't forget my question, though. I _will_ make you answer it."

I easily ignored that comment, and he laughed.

As I sat back down on the couch, the front door opened and we saw Embrys head peak around the corner. They never bothered to knock; they knew we could hear them approach anyway.

"Jake! Nessie! How's it going?"

There was some noise behind him, and then Quil, Jared, Paul, Collin, Brady and Seth also stumbled in the door, laughing.

"Hey!" Seth grinned "Thought we'd just drop by to see how you guys are doing. Billy told about last night..."

His smile quickly sobered up as he got a closer look at my face.

"Wow. How are you, Nessie? That doesn't look very nice"

He eyed my bruised face.

"Don't be rude" Jacob shot back at him, irritated.

"What...? Oh, I didn't mean it like that! I meant, you know, it must have hurt."

Jacob shot him a glare. The fact that Jacob was so easily irritated, I found kind of amusing, and I started to laugh.

"Relax, Jake. It was you who called me a panda this morning, remember? Chill."

Jacob smiled a little, and mumbled something about how that was my choice of words, not his.

Paul chuckled. "Guess that's a proof you should never tease the imprint unless you want a wolf on your back"

I sent Jacob a quick look. So he'd told them I knew about the whole imprint-thing. Or they must have heard his thoughts while we were out hunting or something. It was a little weird being referred to as _the imprint._ It sort of inclined a partnership, witch we didn't have. Did we? Jacob sent me an apologetic look through his lashes. But I just smiled. It wasn't something negative. Just...new.

Seth slumped down beside me on the sofa.

"But seriously, how are you? Does it hurt?"

The others also settled into the living-room; on the sofas and in chairs, with their eyes on me. My family had always been big, so there was plenty of room for everyone.

"Not so much now. I'm okay" I'd said that a lot lately. "Really, we don't need to talk about it. No big deal"

I didn't really feel like retelling the story one more time. Seth wrapped his arm around me

"Al right, we'll just try to cheer you up then. Panda-girl."

"Hey!" Jacob leaned around me and jokingly tried to smack his forehead, but Seth just managed to get out of the way

"It was your choice of words, or so I've heard" Seth shot back at Jacob, and they all started to laugh. I really liked Seth.

They stayed the whole evening. Someone raided the kitchen and came up with some potato chips and something to drink – that disappeared quickly. Seth was still sitting in the sofa beside me and I was leaning back were Jake had been sitting before, my legs wrapped beside me. Seth was resting his arm on my knees. Seth was maybe the wolf I knew best (except Jacob of course, but that's different) and we'd always been getting along really well. Jacob was sitting in in a chair on the other side of the table. I'd caught him looking at me many times throughout the evening. I sent him a smile, and his own smile widened impossibly.

"We thought you were expecting company tonight" Jared noted, receiving a scowl from Paul as he emptied the last bag of chips.

"Company? Like who?" Jacob asked, turning his attention from me to Jared.

"There was a car standing by the driveway, you know, by the main road. We thought he was headed here."

"There was a man in the car?" Jacob sent me a look. I didn't know why he was so interested. The man was probably just lost

"Two. They were studying a map" Jared said. "They were probably just lost." he shrugged, echoing my thoughts.

"Where is Claire tonight?" I asked Quill, changing the subject. He was talking loudly about vehicles with Embry, but snapped out of it as soon I mentioned Clairs name. He got a marvelling look on his face.

"She's home tonight. She's gone to bed now, of course."

Of course. Claire was only ten years old. I sometimes forgot; I was in theory only seven years my self.

Actually I was getting a little tired too. I rested my head against the sofa, but resisted the urge to close my eyes. I stretched out my legs over Seths lap. He didn't even seem to notice. I noticed Jacob was looking at me again and I sent him a smile.

They left about midnight, getting up one by one. Seth ruffled my hair as he left and punched Jacob playfully in the shoulder. "Bye Nessie, Jake". When we were alone again, Jacob sat down on the sofa beside me.

"Tired?" he smiled.

"A little bit" I said, closing my eyes. "But not very"

"Hm" he was silent for one beat. "Can I ask you something?"

I opened my eyes.

"Shoot".

"What's your best wolf-kiss?"

He sent me his wicked grin.

"Actually, I _am_ tired. I simply _need_ togo to bed. Right now"

Jacob laughed and wrapped his arm around me.

"Yeah right, you do, don't you". Sarcasm was literary dripping from his words.

"Immediately, yeah."

"I thought you said you weren't tired"

"Oh I am. Very. Very tired" I yawned for emphasis.

Jacob leaned down to kiss my hair.

"Oh, well then. If you say so."

I chuckled, and so did he.


	7. Phone

_A.N: _

_**Disclaimer: **Yeah yeah, I don't own it. Stephenie Meyer does:)_

_Song: Blue foundation – Dead Woman_

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**Phone**

Jacob hadn't normally been sleeping at our house before. Sometimes he would be sleeping in my room, but only if we'd been up real late to watch a movie or something, and we'd simply fallen asleep. I guess we'd fallen asleep in the living-room too a couple of times, on the sofa or in a chair. Now, it seemed obvious that he would be sleeping here. In my room. Bed.

I was standing in the bathroom, looking into the mirror. Normally, I wouldn't have been thinking about this. When he was just friend-Jacob, I wouldn't have speared it a thought. I did think about it now. For the first time, it felt a little bit awkward. I mean, we weren't dating, but we had...feelings. For each other. He had made it very clear how he felt about me, and I...well, I did have feelings for him. I did. Yesterday I had definitely needed him to stay after what had happened. And I really really didn't want him to leave tonight. A chill crept down my spine just by thinking about it. But still. A little bit weird. A little bit. I just didn't know exactly what to do, how close I should be. I took a deep breath before I went into my room.

He wasn't there, but when I turned around to call his name, he just entered the room behind me. He walked up to me and put his hands around my waist.  
"I was just out, checking"

"Checking?"

"To see if everything was normal. Everything is cool"

"Stop worrying, Jake. What could possibly happen here?" I smiled up at him "I think you're being paranoid."

"I know. I guess I am." he smiled back, a little bit embarrassed. "I just had a bad feeling. I'm scared for you".

"You don't need to be. What are you worrying about? I can take care of myself."

"I know. You just got me a little worried since what happened last night"

"Well, no harm done, right? I'm fine, thanks to you. Let's just forget about it, okay?"

"Sure, sure" he said, in his most Jacobish way, and I laughed.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to fall asleep on my feet if I don't go to bed." I said, and wiggled out of his arms. I sat down on the bed and scooped over to my side before I folded the blanket over my legs.

Jacob was still standing were I'd left him in the middle of the room, and he seemed a little hesitant. Then he slowly walked towards the bed before he laid down beside me on his stomach, on top of the blanket. Maybe I wasn't the only one who'd been thinking about awkwardness. I turned over on my side to face him.

"I don't want to leave you alone tonight" he said

"Then stay"

"Are you sure you want me to?"

Was that what he was worrying about? That I didn't want him to stay?

"Yes" I said simply.

A genuine smile spread on his lips, but then he seemed unsure again.

"I just don't want you to think it's weird or anything. I mean, you said you needed time to adjust..."

He looked down on his hands.

" Forget that I said that, that was stupid." I tried to find the right words, and his eyes met mine. I continued. " It's just new, that's all. That doesn't mean I want you to leave".

He smiled, but still seemed nervous somehow. I couldn't blame him. I knew perfectly well where I had him, what he felt and wanted. What did he know? That I needed time to adjust? Okay, Nessie. No more selfishness.

"I don't want you to leave" I said again before I leaned down closer to him and kissed the tip of his nose. Then I hesitated before I leaned down to kiss his lips. Just briefly, just a little kiss. When I laid my head back on my pillow, he had a marvelling look on his face, all doubt blown away. He scooped a little bit closer to put his arm around my waist and I rested my head by his neck.

"I _do _like you, you know" I mumbled, my voice heavy with sleep. "You don't have to worry about _that."_

I must have fallen asleep right after that, because that's the last thing I remember.

* * *

Monday morning I woke up laying on my stomach, my arms stretched out over my head, my face buried between two pillows and my hair in a mess. I must have been sleeping uneasy. Actually, it looked like we had done far more than just sleeping... Mental-slap. I quickly banished the thought from my mind. Forbidden, forbidden thought. Then I remembered that my dad was not home, and relaxed a little bit.

Jacob still had his arm draped over me. He was sleeping beside me, breathing heavily. It was a cloudy day, the fog swirling around outside my window. The clock was about ten.

I carefully tried to get up without waking Jacob. As soon as I tried to sit up though, he opened his eyes and sent me a sleepy and earnest smile. I went into the bathroom to take a shower. When I came back (fully dressed this time) he was up too, standing by the window looking out on the fog. I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around him, witch made him smile.

I made him breakfast while he took a shower. I wasn't hungry myself; when I hunted I could go for many days without eating. If I only ate human food, I needed to eat more often.

We were sitting by the kitchen table, when his phone rang. He picked it up and frowned as he saw the number on the screen before he answered.

"Hello?"

I watched him while he was on the phone. He frowned a couple of times, accompanied by the question "why?" or "how?". There was something about his car, I think. When he hung up, he stared down on the phone for a couple of seconds before he put it down.  
"What's up?" I asked.

"That was one weird phonecall" he said, still frowning. "It was from the police-station, they said I needed to bring the Rabbit for some..what was it? Re-something with the car signs? They had obviously had a control and written down my car-number because it lacked...something to do with a registration sign or...something. Weird, I've never heard of any new rules."

"Why didn't they just stop you? Writing down your number and then later call you, in stead of just tell you right away? That's not very smart"

"I know, it's a bit weird. They said I needed to go and fix it today, as soon as possible"

"Oh. You going right away?"

"I guess..." he hesitated, before he sighed. "Might as well get it over with".

He sent me a smile as he stood up. Then he went out in the hallway and I followed.

"Do you think it will take long?"

"I'll be quick, I promise. It probably wont take long. I'll be back in an hour, I guess"

He went over to me and smiled down at me.

"You could come, if you want. It'll probably be real boring, but if you don't want to be alone..."

" I'll be fine" I didn't want him to leave, but I didn't want him to think I was desperately dependant on him either.

"Sure?"

"Positive"

I smiled, and he smiled back. He leaned down slowly and kissed me carefully on the lips. His lips were so warm and dry and I felt butterflies all the way down to my feet. I definitely could get used to that.

"Bye" he smiled, cupped my cheek quickly with his hand, and then he left.

I didn't know there would be a lot more than an hour before I saw him again.

* * *

What to do, what to do. I went into the kitchen again, to do some very seriously neglected dishes. On the way I went into the living-room to put on the stereo. Everything is more fun with music. Especially the boring stuff. I walked into the kitchen again and started to fill the sink with water, humming quietly for myself. I found the soap and some gloves, and was just about to start when I heard a car-door close quietly outside. Wow. That was quick even for Jake. He must have forgotten something. I hadn't heard his car approaching, because of the music. I removed the gloves and walked toward the front-door to meet him.

One foot away from the door I was startled when he rang the doorbell. Weird. He never did that. Not before then did it hit me that maybe it wasn't Jake outside. Embarrassed I realized I should have turned down the music, but too late now.

I opened the door, and saw the face of a smiling man. I also realized that something was off. The smell that his me was not just from him – there were someone else there. A movement caught my eye from the right and I turned around to see a man standing on the right side of the door, a little too close to be polite. Then something hard hit me in the back of the head and everything went black.

* * *

_A.N: Sorry! Cliffhanger, I know. Muhahaha. Next chapter up in a couple of days;)_


	8. Trapped

_Kaizers Orchestra – Dieter Meyers Inst. - This is a killer song, check it out!_

**Disclaimer_: _**_It all belongs to Stephenie Meyer:)_

* * *

**Trapped**

The next thing I remembered was pain. My whole head was screaming and I was both dizzy and frightened. I could hear muted voices far away, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. I wanted to see if I could open my eyes. I could. I was laying in the corner of a dark, damp room. In the opposite corner there was a simple bed with no sheets. There was only one window, if you could call it that; high up on the wall there was a tiny square where lights flooded in. It was a large room and it smelled old and closed, it smelled vampire and human and blood – and something else, something vaguely familiar. A door on the other side of the room was open.

I tried to sit up, and the world was swirling before my eyes. I heard movement. Two men appeared in the doorway – they had been the source of the muted voices.

"Renesmee!" the biggest man said as he started to walk towards me, smiling. He was a vampire. I quickly understood that he had the smell that was vaguely familiar. The other man was human, and I had never seen him before. I knew his smell too though; he had been there when I had opened the front door, when someone had hit me in the head.

The vampire stood in front of me, his hands planted firmly on his sides.

"My name is Joham, and it is I who have brought you here. Do not be afraid, I wish you no harm."

Joham. The name stirred something in the back of my mind. And I realized; the smell, his smell, reminded me of Nahuel.

"You're Nahuel's father!" I burst out, finally making the connection.

"Yes" he answered, pleased that I did not seem more afraid.

I remembered Nahuel. I had met him one time since that time with the Volturi; I had once visited Zafrina in the rain forest, and he had come to see me one day. I was not old then. We had played together, and I remembered liking him. He had been shy and gentle.

I looked around.

"Why am I here?" I looked up at Joham. He was still smiling. Nahuel was so kind and polite, and I couldn't quite bring myself to believe that his father could be so different. Maybe that was the reason I wasn't more afraid than I was.

"You are here because... I need you", he said simply.

The human snorted, but Joham silenced him with just a look. Then he smiled back down at me.

"But do not be afraid, I do not wish to harm you." He repeated his words from earlier, and I got instantly alarmed.

"Could you not have asked for my help, instead of hitting me unconscious?" I asked, rubbing my aching head. I was not bleeding, at least.

"Ahh". Joham folded his hands and looked down. Then he shot a look at his friend, or whatever he was. "Leave" he hissed, and made a sharp gesture with his head towards the door. The human left, closing the door firmly behind him. The room got darker, but that didn't bother any of us. My night vision was good, his was better.

"How can you be around him?" I asked out of curiosity, nodding towards the closed door. "You're not a vegetarian". Joham studied me calmly with his blood-red eyes.

"No I am not." he replied. "And that means I will have to replace my employees regularly."

I shuddered. He was actually saying that he _killed_ them regularly, replacing them with new soon-to-be meals. I thought of my human friends and shuddered some more.

"They are easy to find" Joham continued.

He started to walk slowly back and forth between me and the door as he spoke.

" Stupid, little humans, willing to follow a stronger, much more powerful leader. Of course, they do not know _what_ I am, but they know I am _something. _Different and far above them. Afraid , fascinated and hungry for power, money... they follow." He seemed lost in his own thoughts as he continued the pacing, back and forth. " They do not question things. And I must say, they become handy when I do not wish to leave a trace or scent of _me_. Like when finding you."

He turned around and smiled. His eyes were blazing with a curiosity, a if he wanted something from me.

A sudden thought hit me.

"It was you!" I burst out.

I tried to sit up more straight. "It was you, wasn't it? That man who attacked me on Saturday. You sent him, right? To...what? Kidnap me?"

"Oh, that little accident." Joham sighed. "I am sorry about your bruises, they were unnecessary." He eyed my face, before he continued "He was only supposed to hit you in the head once, make you unconscious, and bring you here. You were stronger than expected, and much stronger than any human of course. And he is stupid." He paused. "Well, _was _stupid. He is gone now."

He licked his lips, and I shuddered again.

I had been right. The man _had _been after something, it wasn't just random. He was trying to kidnap me. I understood why Joham would send a human instead of going himself. Joham would leave a scent of vampire, which would be easily recognizable to me...and Jacob. I got a lump in my throat as I thought of Jacob.

"What am I doing here?" I asked. I tried not to show how afraid I actually was, but my voice was shaking.

"Oh, do not be afraid, my friend!" He stopped the pacing and turned around to face me fully. "You are simply here to help me finish a little experiment of mine. Something I have planned for a long time. It is a brilliant idea, I must say. And you are a crucial part of that plan."

He sent me a hungry smile before he continued.  
"As for you earlier question: Why didn't I just ask for your help? Well. The answer is simple. I doubt you would volunteer."

A chill crept down my spine. What was this?

Joham started walking again.

"I have heard rumours of you family. The family that could stand up against the famous Volturi. Vampires, joined by big wolves. The mind-reading father, the human mother – and the child. The _child._ That's you, Renesmee." he sent me a curious look. "And then I made a plan. A brilliant plan. And it is almost, almost ready to be tested. But as I've told you, to do that I needed you. I found out that your family was going away, leaving you and your wolf-friend behind."

The lump in my throat got bigger as he mentioned Jacob.

Joham continued.  
" My employees would have to be very careful. I did not wish to snatch you at your house, that could very easily go wrong. But after all, your wolf-friend is no mind-reader. We tried that night in Port Angeles, with no luck. And I thought to myself: if there only was a way to get the wolf to leave, only for a little while...

So, we produced an excuse to get him out of the house, and it was done. This time, my employees were more prepared, they knew what to do – I had instructed them carefully – and it was so easy. I am sorry if we frightened you, but you see, I simply _had _to get you here"

He stopped talking and smiled down at me.

"I do also feel sorry for that poor wolf – imagine when he comes home to find you gone! With no trace, no track to follow. He must be devastated."

Joham got a concerned look on his face, but I didn't believe him for one second. On the contrary, I got the impression he was enjoying himself. Jacob would find me, I repeated over and over in my head. Jacob would find me, he would not give up until he found me.

"Again, back to your question: What are you doing here." Joham started walking again. "This is the core of my plan. For many years now, I have had a goal. I am creating something new. Something unique, I thought, until I heard of you. And you are, indeed, unique, Renesmee. With you, this will explode. You can make this possible, you can make this function. My goal, Renesmee, is to create a whole new race. The race of half human – half vampire. So far there is only you, Nahuel, and all of my other children."

"But what do you need me for? You're not, like, a collector, are you?" I was starting to get sick.

"No, not quite" He sent me a look. " You see, you are the only half vampire I know of that is not my own child. I need you.. to _create."_

I got it then, and if I could have vomited I would have. He needed me. To _create._ To reproduce. To make birth to half-vampires. The world was spinning again. I could not think, I must have been on the edge of fainting. I could not breathe, could not do anything but suffocate. Jacob, I thought. JacobJacobJacob. I drew a deep breath. Jacob would come. I would get out of here. This would not happen. Jacob would find me.

"No" I growled. I looked up at Joham with hateful eyes. _No._

" Yes." he said, simply. "There is no choice in this for you. To complete my plan I needed another male half-vampire, of course. I don't know where Nahuel is or if he is even alive, but I know he would not make this easy if I tried to use him as a part of my plan. Instead, I did create another child all those years ago, a son. He will be fully grown in just a couple of days, so you will have some time to adjust to the thought. On his seventh birthday – we will put the plan into action".

I didn't dare think about what he meant by that. It would not happen. I would not allow it. I was so angry my hands were shaking. What did he think he was? Some kind of God, with the right to rule everything? To rule other people, other lives?

In one movement I got up on my feet. I wanted to knock him down and storm out the door, but as soon as I moved towards him, he hit me in the face and I fell back on the floor again. My vision got blurry for a couple of seconds and I felt something warm spread in my hair. I was bleeding, this time. Joham did not longer smile.

"You will do as I tell you." he said firmly. "You do not have any other option. You will only make it worse for yourself if you protest, so it is better that you don't. For your own good, Renesmee. Behave."

Then he turned around and walked out of the room with firm steps. He closed the door behind him and I heard him lock it.

* * *

I fell down on the floor and cried. I cried for hours, or at least it felt like hours. The light outside the little window grew darker and it became night. When I couldn't cry any more I slumped up against the wall.

I thought of Jacob. Where he was. He was probably looking for me. Maybe the pack helped. Maybe he'd alerted my family. They would come. They would find me. I just hoped that he was okay. That they all were.

I had not chance of getting out of here on my own. Joham was much stronger than me, and he well knew that. He also knew I was much stronger than all his human "employees". He would not leave me unguarded with them for one second. And he didn't need to wait long apparently, in only a couple of days...

I didn't even know if it was possible. If I could give birth. No other half-human had ever tried, and I had never thought about it. I did have a period, but I didn't know if that made any difference to me. The thought of _children_ hadn't really crossed my mind. I after all, had very recently stopped being a child myself. I hadn't even ever had a real boyfriend, if you could call it that, and Jacob... I cried through the rest of that night. The next morning came and I was exhausted. I laid down on the floor, closing my eyes, but not to sleep. I couldn't hear anything. The walls must be soundproof. Didn't make much of a difference.

The day passed. I cried, I closed my eyes, I prayed and I begged. I replayed memories in my head over and over. Memories of me and Jacob, of my mom, my dad, my aunts and uncles, my grandparents, my friends. Me and Jacob laying in the sun, me snuggling up next to his wolf-form. He was rumbling, enjoying himself. My dad teaching me how to play the piano, smiling whenever he heard my thoughts drift away to boys and non-essentials. My mom telling me how much she loved me. Jacob hugging me tight to his chest, whispering my name, kissing my hair.

I lost track of time, but some time before it got real dark outside the window, the lock was unbolted. I sat up and stared towards the door with tired, wet eyes. I would have to try to get out. The door opened and Joham entered.

"Renesmee" he greeted me. The door was still open. If I could distract him somehow...

Joham walked towards me and stood in front of me.

"I hope you have been thinking about what is wise of you to do."

I didn't answer.

"It will make things easier for you, if you accept your situation."

I didn't answer. He eyed me for one second.

"I see your mind is set. Too bad"

He turned around and headed towards the door. I couldn't let him close the door, not again. I got up on my feet, but just when I planned to leap he turned to me with resigned eyes.

"I thought you knew better than that"

I ignored him, but didn't make more than two steps before he slapped me in the face. I could taste blood in my mouth. My vision got all blurry again. He hit me again, with such force I slammed into the wall behind me. My pulse felt like a drum in my head. I expected him to leave but he didn't, I could see his feet standing in front of me.

"I do not wish to do this" he said. "But you must understand there is no other way for you. The next time I enter I will bring my son. "

He turned on his heel and walked towards the door. I got up again. I wasn't thinking straight, I wasn't thinking at all. It was a miracle I even saw where I was running. All I could see was the door, the light. I reached towards it but something hard and painful hit my shoulder and forced me down on my knees. I realized it was Johams hand. His eyes were angry. His hands was squeezing me shoulder so hard tears escaped from my eyes.

"Enough" he said. He let go of me and I fell down on the cold floor. I heard the door close and lock and everything went black again.


	9. Hunt

_Song: 120 days - come out, come down, fade out, be gone. __(I can't find this on youtube, but try grooveshark. com. It's there;)_

_A.N: Okay guys, this is the first time I've tried this, hope I'm doing alright..._

_I give you..._

_*tamtamtam* _

* * *

**_- JPOV _**

* * *

**Hunt**

I turned my car over and parked in front of the police station. As I got a glimpse of my reflection in the rear-view mirror, I saw that my face was set in a goofy smile. I hadn't even known I was grinning. What that girl did to me... I laughed silently and shook my head.

I got out of the car and headed inside. I wasn't going to stay long if I could prevent it. I could feel the familiar pull of her, dragging me in the opposite direction, willing me to go back to her. This is why it was so difficult to be away from her. She always pulled me towards her, and resisting was a pain.

I walked over to the counter, to the man sitting there. Maybe I could say hi to Charlie while I was here as well.

"Hi, my name is Jacob Black, I'm here to fix the new signboards for my car"

I was only halfway paying attention to what I was saying. My thoughts were drifting off to this morning, the way she looked next to me in bed. Her eyes were squinting as her oh-so-full lips sent me a confused smile, making her cheeks dimple. Her face was framed in a mess of bronze curls, which clearly told me she'd slept well. She'd tried to ease out from under my arm, and I remembered how her t-shirt had been sliding up, revealing a glimpse the soft skin on her back...

"Signboards?"

The man looked utterly dumbfounded, and I repeated what I'd said.

"Are you sure you have come to the right place?"

"Yes" I looked him straight in the eyes, nodding for emphasis. I was starting to get annoyed. How thick could you get? "Something about a registration sign. New rules"

"There must be some kind of misunderstanding"

"No" I snapped. I was getting more irritated than necessary, I know, but this was depriving me from valuable alone-time with Nessie, without having to control my thoughts all the time...

"I don't know what you're ..."

"Come _on, _you called me in less than thirty minutes ago, and asked me to come here!"

Ass.

"Nobody have been using this phone today" the man insisted, nodding towards his phone beside him. He was trying to be patient, acting like I was some kind of stupid, ill-tempered kid, but I could hear his irritation shining through. "You must have misunderstood. There are no new rules concerning the registration signs. As far as I know, no one has called you from this station. But if you wait here, I can ask the others whether..."

It hit me like a bullet in the head. The man was still talking, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. It was a trap. "No one has called you from this station". No one had called. _From this station. _In less than two seconds I was out the door. I heard the man yell something after me, but I couldn't listen. I ran like I had never ran before. I crossed the main road without looking either right or left. Cars honked. The sound of whining brakes. I didn't care. I didn't see. As soon as I reached the edge of the forest beside the road, I phased. I didn't care if anyone saw. I didn't care if I ripped my clothes to shreds. The only thing on my mind was to get to _her. _To get there in time. Before someone else did.

I was greeted by several voices inside my head, but they soon went quiet when they could see what was on my mind. I didn't know who they were or how many. It could be Seth, it could be Quil, it could be all of them; I didn't know. The only coherent thought I could manage to think was G_et there. Get. There. _I could feel their acceleration in my mind, and I knew that they as well, were headed _there. _A wolf howled, far away.

I could be wrong. I hoped to be wrong, I begged to be wrong. But I could not risk it. I launched myself further, willing me to be there in time.

I reached there first. One second the main-house appeared in front of me, the next I was on the front stairs. I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. Not just because of the unfamiliar smell of several humans, or the smell of fuel, or the music that echoed out from the open door. I knew because the pull was gone. Her pull. Her presence. There was no pull for me, nothing to tell me where to find her. Instead I was left with a feeling of emptiness, like a big empty hole had punched its way through me. This could only mean one thing: she was too far away.

I felt my four legs buckle and fell to the ground. My whole frame was shaking and I could not see. A terrifying and completely devastating howl escaped my throat and I could feel the minds of the others fill with panic and fear when they heard.

I needed to phase to get inside. She could be there, I tried to fool myself. She could be there. I knew she wasn't. There was no pull for her there. _But she could be_, a little voice inside my mind said, my own this time. She could be there, even if there was no pull from her. She could be...

I phased, and was inside. I knocked over the cd -player as I stumbled past, and the silence was screaming in my ears. I checked every room. I fooled myself to think she could be there, but at the same time dreading with all my heart that she was. Because that would mean she was... I blocked my mind, didn't allow myself to think it.

She wasn't there. There was warm water in the sink on the kitchen, and her smell was everywhere. But she wasn't there. She wasn't there. Again I fell down on my knees. Air came in and out in shallow breaths. My head was filled with her, how she would look like, if she still... Only the thought of her ceasing to exist tipped me over and felt completely drained. If she was not, then I could not be either. Pain. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't see, couldn't hear. I felt helpless. The empty hole was filled with dread. Time stopped.

* * *

"Jake!"

Embrys voice was scared. I felt him at my side, kneeling beside me.

"What happened? What's going on?"

Slowly, time started to move again. It was as if I could hear the machinery slowly stir into life. As it started to tick, I could see what I needed to do. She was out there, somewhere. She was. I needed to find out where. I needed to find her. And I would. It was not too late. I wouldn't let it be too late. My mind filled with determination, not replacing the pain but distracting me from the acute feeling of it. I _would_ find her. I would find her and never let her go.

I walked out of the kitchen, Embry trailing confused behind me. I walked outside to see my whole pack there, still in their wolf form. Embry, Quil, Leah, Seth. I phased. I remembered many years ago how my wolf form had helped me escape my human feelings. It didn't help now.

Their questions were everywhere, but they stilled when I replayed what had happened in my head. The phone call. The police station. Nessie gone. I replayed how she'd been attacked that night in Port Angeles as well. It didn't seem so coincidental now.

It stung in my chest when I realized Nessie had suspected that all along, that it wasn't coincidental. I could clearly remember her face on our way home when she wondered about the motive. I'd taken it for granted. I'd failed her.

_But what was the motive? _Seth interrupted. _Why would someone do this?_

I could see how upset he was. He considered Nessie as part of the family, of the pack almost. I guess most of us did.

While telling them, I had ran back and forth, filling my nose with all the unfamiliar scents. Three humans. Men. Grown. A car too. Fuel. Her scent was all over the front porch. Maybe they hit her. No blood. Maybe they'd dragged her to the car. The motive. I had no idea. I tried to think but ended up howling with frustration, literary. I wanted to _do _something, not just stand there. We needed to run after them, now, before it was -

_Sam's coming, _Embry interrupted. He had phased back, and stood beside me now.

_You called for him?_

_Yes. _

It must have been Embrys howl I'd heard before. I was surprised. I hadn't thought of that. Since the old pack was split all those years ago, we were now two packs, and we couldn't share thoughts between the packs. Only the alphas could communicate. To contact Sam hadn't even crossed my mind; not that many coherent things had. But the more the better.

I tried to follow the scent of the three men, but it disappeared right where the car most likely had been. And so did the fresh trail of Nessie. I hole in my chest was now filled with guilt. If I'd gotten to her on time, none of this would have happened. I should have taken her with me to the police station. I should insisted that she joined me. I would have protected her. I'd failed.

I shouldn't have answered that phone call. I should have ignored it. I should have been more suspicious. I should have listened to her that night in Port Angeles. I should know that it wasn't a coincident. I should have been able to put the pieces together. Someone was after her. _Someone was after my girl. _My Nessie. I pictured her face in front of me. Innocent. Beautiful. Her red cheeks, her red lips, her brown chocolate eyes, her dark bronze hair, her pale skin. Her smile, her happy joyful eyes. Someone was trying to hurt that image, to hurt her... I was quivering. I should have stayed with her. I'd failed in protecting her.

We heard the thudding of approaching paws, and soon they all appeared. Sam came first, with Jared, Paul and the others right behind. Sam went straight up to me, stuck to the place where the car had swallowed her scent.

_What's going on_? he demanded.

I told him, trying not to pay attention to my thoughts as if that would make it less real. I couldn't break down now. As soon as Sam knew, the rest of his pack knew as well. Understanding, sympathy and worry painted their faces.

_Jared says there were two men in you driveway last night. Do you think they might have-_

I was running before he'd finished his sentence. Back to the main road. I remembered what Jared had told me last night. Two men. Driveway. Jared had thought they were lost. As it turned out, they probably weren't.

I reached the end of the driveway, and froze for the tenth of a second. I could detect a very, very faint whiff of their scent. It was theirs. The same, human scent as outside the main house. It continued north. I started running. I stopped thinking, stopped feeling, I just _ran, _pressing myself to my furthest. No thoughts except one. _Find. Her. _Find Reneesme. Find Nessie. Find her, before...Find her. I vaguely noticed I was not alone. The others were right behind me, their minds also focused on the one thing that mattered. _Find her. _


	10. Memories

**Diclaimer: **_I don't own antyhing from Twilight. _

* * *

_** - NPOV**_

* * *

**Memories**

The second night passed. It became light outside the window. This meant Wednesday. Joham had said i_n just a few days._ How many days was just a few days? I refused to think about it. It would not happen. But a quiet little voice inside my head would sometimes say _When? _or _How? _It could be Wednesday. It could be any day. It could be today.

I had crept back to the wall, replaying memories. Maybe I was going insane. It certainly felt like it. My head was hurting so much it made me feel dizzy. My shoulder would definitely get a bruise. Dad sitting with me on the bed, telling me a goodnight-story. His smile was filled with love and happiness. Mom taking me down to La Push when I was a little girl. I was tugging her hand, wanting us to go faster.

Jacob and me watching TV on the couch at home, he laying on the sofa beside me with his head rested on my lap. My whole family out hunting, Emmet teasing me about my speed. Jacob barking playfully towards him as if to dare him say that again. My last birthday, Alice going insane with decorations, Jacob looking at me with blazing eyes from across the room.

Seth. Jasper. Rose. Esme. Carlisle. Charlie. I would never see my grandpa Charlie again. The wolf-pack spread around in the living-room, laughing and joking. Billy. Emilys place. La Push. Home. Our little cottage. Jacob hugging me that night he told me about the imprinting, saying it was only me, calling me silly. Far away I heard muted noises. Someone yelling. A thud. I barely noticed.

Dad, kissing my forehead. The feeling of riding a wolf, the speed, the wind, the fur beneath my fingers. Another thud. Someone yelling again. Mom stroking my face when she thought I was asleep. Watching my dad sending mom a loving look. Jacob telling me that he loved me. Someone was by the door outside. More yelling. Jacob hugging me, whispering my name. Someone unlocked the door. Jacob saying my name again, and again and again. The door opened. Jacobs face, his warm soft skin, his dishevelled black hair.

The Jacob in my mind was no longer whispering, he was much more loud. Shouting. I opened my eyes and my memory-Jacob suddenly seemed so real, so alive. Was I imagining things? I must be hallucinating too. Great.

"Reneesme"

He was shouting. And he had called me Reneesme. That was weird. My memory-Jake mostly called me Nessie. Jacob used to call me Reneesme only when it was something serious.

I opened my eyes a little more, and stared into Jacobs frightened face. His eyes were frantic, crazed. Terrified.

"Nessie" he said, and I felt a pair of hands wrap around me, my face, my head, my arms. He even smelled like Jacob. What a weird hallucination. Or was it?

"Jacob?" my voice came out in a rasp whisper.

I could only focus on his eyes. Hazel hazel hazel brown eyes. I had to close my own eyes for a second, and then I couldn't find any strength to open them again. I felt hands flutter over my body, I heard loud voices far far away. I vaguely remember being lifted up from the ground.

* * *

Something cold and wet was running down my face. I started to cough and gasp for air and I realized it was water. I opened my eyes. I was outside, laying on my back and the ground was moist. I stared up into Jacobs face.

"Nessie?" his voice was desperate. "Renesmee? Do you hear me?"

I tried to answer but ended up coughing some more.

"Yes" I finally managed to squeeze out. He hugged me then, dragging me up in a sitting position, pressing me to him. His shoulders were shaking and he held me to him as if his life depended on it. I slowly realized that he actually was here with me. He _had _found me. I relaxed into his arms and let him hold me. After a while he loosened his grip slightly to look at me. His eyes were red-rimmed.

"Are you all right? Can you walk?"

He cupped my face with both of his hands and searched my face.

"I...think so"

I tried to think but my mind wouldn't cooperate. My eyelids felt heavy. Jacob didn't give me a chance to find out if I could walk or not, he simply lifted me up as if I was a feather. I heard someone yell and I realized we were not alone.

"Joham" my eyes flew open, and met Jacobs. I started to stutter. "He's here, we need to get away, he can't...what if he..."

"Relax, Nessie. It's taken care of"

The fear in Jacobs eyes was replaced by hatred. It was a strange and unfamiliar look on his face, and something I had never seen before. I heard running steps. Someone were talking with low voices, like the way you would speak in a hospital. I realized they were talking like that because of me. It smelled smoke and fire. And wolf.

"Is the pack here?" I whispered.

"Yes" he said simply. " Let's get you home now".

Some more steps.

"How is she?" I heard Seth say. His voice was filled with concern. I didn't realize I had closed my eyes again.

"Can you guys clean this up? I should get her home."

I could almost picture the concerned look Jacob sent me, even with my eyes closed.

"Go. She needs to get out of here."

"Nessie?" I opened my eyes, and blinked a few times to get them into view.

"Hi Nessie" Seth said. His voice was weak as he stroke his hand over my hair. His ever-present smile was gone. Jacob put me very carefully back on my feet, and Seth supported me firmly so I wouldn't loose my balance.

"I'm going to phase." Jacob said. "Will you manage to hold on to me, on the way home?"

Home. We were going home. By the thought of that, I felt like I could do anything.

"Yes" I said.

He studied my face, before he stepped away from me. I noticed his pants were too short – he must have borrowed them from someone since they obviously weren't his. He didn't bother to take them off before he phrased – they ended up in rags by his feet. He didn't seem to notice. The big wolf knelt down on his knees in front of me, and Seth helped me climb up. I positioned myself between Jacobs huge shoulder blades and gripped his fur firmly with both hands. _Home. Jacob. _As he started to run I closed my eyes and didn't think.

It was a long ride home. It didn't really matter. Jacob was there. I relaxed in between his shoulder blades with my eyes closed. His steps were urgent and aggressive. Once I laid my hand on his forehead. _Thank you. _He answered by running even faster.

I don't know if I fell asleep or not. I guess I was somewhere in between sleep and consciousness. I could feel it when we arrived home, could smell our little cottage deep into the forest. Good memories. I climbed down from Jacob and leaned against the front porch with my eyes closed. All I wanted was to go inside with Jake, lay down in my bed and sleep. After just a few seconds, arms wrapped around me, and Jacob lifted me up. He smelled of wood and rain and warmth and skin. I could hear his familiar heartbeat thunder right next to my ear. The sound was soothing. He carried me inside and into my room and put me down on my bed – it felt wonderfully soft and inviting.

I opened my eyes and my eyes met his. He was leaning over me, still worried. I moved a little to the side, to make room for him. I noticed he was naked. I didn't really care right now, and neither did he. He laid down beside me, covering himself with a blanket, and draping another blanket over me. He put his arms around me and held me close to his chest. The tears came then, and I cried as I have never cried before. Jacob held me close, stroking my hair soothingly. I cried until I was gasping for air and he kissed my head over and over again, comforting me.

A sudden need filled me then, a need for him. I reached up towards him and kissed his mouth urgently. Not out of want or lust, but out of pure need. He kissed me back in the exact same way, our lips moving frantically against each other, trying to find a way to be even closer. My tears kept trailing down my face, and made his face all wet too. When I thought I couldn't take it any longer, he just wrapped my head down to rest under his chin, close to his neck. He let me cry until there were no tears left. His eyes were red-rimmed as well. I calmed down eventually, but it took a long time before I managed to relax. I clung to him until I fell asleep, his arms wrapped safely around me.

* * *

When I woke up, his arms were gone. I fumbled around me to find him, but he wasn't there. I opened my eyes.

"Jacob?" my voice was shivering.

"I'm here" he replied and I looked down. He was sitting by the foot of the bed, just putting his phone away. He had put on one of my grey sweats. Or maybe it was one of his own, which I'd borrowed. He laid down beside me again, and stroke my hair away from my face.

"Your dad." he gestured towards the phone "Wanted to hear if there was any news"

"News?"

"About you. If you were awake. I promised to call as soon as you were. They are on their way".

"They are coming home?"  
"Of course, Nessie. They would have come sooner if I had had the opportunity to call them sooner. I didn't have a chance to call them before last night."

"Why not?"

"Because I didn't bring a phone. I was searching for you, you know"

"What day is it?" I wondered.

I looked out of the window. It was dark.

"It's Wednesday night. It will be Thursday in just a few hours"

He paused, and his look grew darker.

"Renesmee".

He'd used my serious-name. I watched his as he drew a deep breath.

"What happened to you? You need to tell me everything that happened to you"

"Joham" I suddenly burst out, remembering. "And the humans. What happened to them? Where are they?"

He sighed before he answered.

"The pack took care of it. Joham is dead, the humans were delivered to the police I guess. The guys have made up a story. It's been taken care of. Joham wont bother you again"

So he was dead. I looked down. I didn't know what to say, what to feel. I was relieved, for sure. But other than that, I didn't know. I looked down on my body, to see that I was a mess. My clothes were damp and dirty.

"I'm going to take a shower" I informed him. "Because I desperately need one right now"

It looked like Jake was about to say something, but changed his mind.

"Okay." was all he said. In contrast to his words he tightened his arm around me as if unwilling to let me go. I kissed his cheek and carefully rewrapped his arm from around my waist. He reluctantly let me do it. I got up and walked into the bathroom. He followed.

I went over to the drawer to find some clean sheets. My clothes had no doubt made it necessary to change the old ones. Jacob snatched the sheets out of my hands

"I'll do it" he said, and sent me a little smile before he left, closing the door quietly behind him. I quickly undressed and put the clothes in the washingmachine. Ick. I went over to the shower without looking in the mirror.

It was the best shower I had ever had. I washed my hair three times and used a conditioner, something I normally didn't bother to do. It felt wonderful. When I was done, I wrapped a towel around me and drew a deep breath before I looked into the mirror. It wasn't as bad as expected. It had probably been a lot worse, with dried blood everywhere, but I'd managed to wash it all off. My face was bruised, as I knew it would be. My shoulder had deep purple bruises marked after Johams hand. The panda-eye looked even worse than before. All in all it wasn't a pretty sight, but it could have been worse. I combed my hair and brushed my teeth twice. Then I went into my room to find some clean clothes.

Jacob was there, and the situation was oddly familiar. I almost chuckled, remembering the last time I had entered my room wearing only a towel. This time he didn't just sit there, though, he walked up to me and put his finger under my chin. He studied my face closely, and then the bruises on my shoulder. He didn't say anything, he just frowned. I found a pair of tights and a t-shirt and went back into the bathroom to change.

He was waiting outside the door when I came out. He took my hand in his and guided me back to my bedroom. He sat down on the bed, and I sat next to him.

"Nessie" he said, again serious. "What happened to you? What did they do? Tell me everything"

* * *

_A.N: Huge thank you to all of you who reviews! I really appreciate it:)_


	11. Maybe

**Maybe**

* * *

_He was waiting outside the door when I came out. He took my hand in his and guided me back to my bedroom. He sat down on the bed, and I sat next to him. _

"_Nessie" he said, again serious. "What happened to you? What did they do? Tell me everything"_

* * *

And so I did. I told him about how I didn't hear the car arrive because of the music, and how the last thing I remembered was opening the door. I told him about waking up in the room, and about Joham.

" So he produced a story to get you out of the house, to get to me. He wouldn't have a chance if you were around, you are much too strong and he knew."

"It was a nightmare" Jacob looked down on our entwined hands. "I got to the police-station and no one knew what I was talking about. I got it then. That it was a trap, someone was after you. I phased and ran back – it would be faster than driving. But I was too late. You were gone. It smelled of human, three of them. But their smell disappeared when they got into the car, so I didn't know where to follow. I thought I would go mad. The pack came, and we split up. It was only luck that we crossed the scent again, at a gas station. We barely managed to track them down. If we hadn't been so many we wouldn't... I wouldn't..."

He stopped, not finishing the sentence. I squeezed his hand.

"But why?" Jacob continued. "Why did Joham do this? What was his goal?"

"He said I was unique." I said quietly. "One of a kind. He needed me to finish his project."

"Wasn't he trying to make a "new race" or something? Of half-vampires?" Jacob frowned.

"Yes"

"But you are already a half-vampire."

"I know that" I smiled.

"So what was he trying to do, collect you? It doesn't make sense" His voice was shaking.

"That's what I thought at first too" I said carefully, trying to phrase this right "But it wasn't like that exactly. Joham needed me in the...production... of that race"

He got it then. For one second he looked like if I'd just slapped him in the face, and then he started to tremble. His whole body was shaking and I realized he was on the edge of phasing. It would be dangerous for me if he did that with me this close; I _was _indeed half human. An image of Emilys scared face appeared in my mind. His figure was starting to get blurry around the edges. As quickly as I could I wrapped my arms around him and put my hand on the side of his head. _NO, _I thought. _No no no no no. It didn't happen. No. It didn't happen. _I sent this again and again. I let him inside my mind, and I knew he could see I meant it, that it was true. Slowly the trembling faded and he started to get control of himself.

I still held him tight to me, and I showed him everything Joham said about his son, about his plan. I carefully avoided the parts where he hit me, this was not the right time for that. Jacob seemed unable to speak. I held him close until only his hands were shaking. I leaned back and put his hands in mine, squeezing them. Jacob looked at me with wild eyes. His breath was shallow and uneven.

"Damn vampire" he whispered under his breath. "I thought... oh, I thought.." He looked down.

I didn't say anything, I just held his hands in mine, until they stopped trembling. I waited until his breath was back to normal, and laid back down on the bed.

"Thank you, Jacob. For finding me. I thought I'd never see you again"

He looked at me with desperate eyes.

"I thought I would never see you again either" he said earnest. He laid down beside me and wrapped his arm around me.

"We should call your parents" he reminded me quietly.

I closed my eyes. "Soon"

I felt him kiss my cheek. A warm feeling flooded through me, and I got an urge to kiss him back. So I did. I kissed him out of longing and appreciation, and he knew it. When I broke the kiss and opened my eyes, he continued to keep his eyes closed. He looked like if he was dreaming. For the first time today his face was not worried, angry or afraid. I stroke the features of his face gently with my fingertip.

"I think..." I started to say, stroking my finger over his cheekbone, " that I might..." I touched the edge of his lips, " quite possibly... love you. Maybe"

He opened his eyes then, and they were filled with wonder. I didn't meet his gaze, but studied my own hand on his face. He put a hand under my chin and lifted my head up, forcing me to meet his gaze. He looked at me for a couple of seconds, before the most beautiful smile spread on his face. He leaned down towards me and planted a kiss on my forehead.

"You know how I feel about you" he whispered. "You know I love you"

"I know"

His smile widened impossibly and hugged me tight. I rested my head by his neck and did not wish to be anywhere else in the whole wide world.

* * *

I must have fallen asleep again, because the next thing I knew was Jacob talking quietly on the phone with my dad. His arm were still under my head, and he was still laying beside me on the bed. I could hear everything¨my dad said as clearly as if he was standing there in the room with us.

"Is she still sleeping?"

"Yes. She's right here".

"We'll be there in about an hour, maybe less."

"Okay. We'll meet you by the main house. See you then"

They both hung up, and Jacob turned around to put his phone on the table beside the bed. When he laid back down he noticed I was awake.

"Did I wake you?"

"No"

"It was your dad again. They'll be here in about an hour."

I nodded. I did look forward to see them, but I didn't look forward to retell everything that had happened. It must have been obvious on my face what I was thinking, because Jakob squeezed my shoulder before he sat up, saying "It will go just fine, Nessie." He looked down at me with warm eyes, and I pushed myself up to sit next to him.

"Will the pack be there to?"

"I guess they'll show up, eventually." His face got more serious. "When things are done"

"Do you wish you were there with them?"

"No." he shook his head. "I mean, I'd like to be there and help, to get those assholes, clean things up..." He didn't finish his sentence, and I didn't ask what he meant by that either. He continued "But I won't leave you alone again. In fact, I don't think I'll ever let you out of my sight again."

The corner of his lips turned upwards in a little smile.

"Oh, I guess you'll be pretty sick of me if you're going to have to look at me _all _the time"

"I don't think so"

I rolled my eyes, and he laughed.

He held my gaze for a long time, and his face got serious again.

"Nessie, how did this happen?"

He carefully touched the bruises on my shoulder and arm. I carefully told him about how Joham held me down, not letting in too many details. Jacobs face darkened, and he traced his fingers over my bruises over and over again.

"Show me" he said, and I knew he meant my memories.

I hesitated

"Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean..." I thought back to only minutes before when he'd almost phased here in my bedroom. I had hoped he wouldn't ask for this. He took a deep breath.

"Yes. I'm sorry about before. It wont happen now. But I need to know everything that happened to you."

His eyes met mine, and I knew he would not negotiate.

I slowly lifted my hand to his face and slowed him how I'd gotten the bruise. He closed his eyes. When I was done I started to remove my hand but he held it there, wrapping his own hand over mine, holding it to his cheek. He opened his eyes, and I saw only determination.

"What about this?" he gently caressed the bruise on my left cheek. "Show me"

I did, and again he closed his eyes, still holding my hand to his cheek. When the memory was over he didn't open his eyes. He pressed my hand again.

"Show me the rest as well"

And I did, because I knew he would not give in until he'd seen it all. I studied his face carefully, to see how he reacted, but he just continued to keep his eyes closed.

"That's all" I said, when I'd shown him everything that had happened. "You know everything now".

He opened his eyes and looked at me with sad eyes. His eyes were blanc and he suddenly looked years older. He didn't speak; it didn't look like he was able to say anything at all. His hands were trembling again.

"I know I shouldn't have shown you that" I muttered, looking down.

"No" he said. "I'm glad you did. I needed to know".

I met his eyes; and he leaned down to brush his lips against my forehead.


	12. Talk

_**Disclaimer: **I'm not Stephenie Meyer, or her cousin, or her aunts cousins daughter. I'm a poor student from Norway. So I don't own anything Twilight. Haha._

_Song: Massive Attack - Teardrop. _

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**Talk**

We didn't feel like running, so we left to the main house in good time. We were walking slowly through the forest. Jake had wrapped his hand around mine. We didn't say much, it just felt good to be there with him, my hand in his.

I was getting jumpy. Several times I turned my head when I heard a sound, and it felt like someone was staring at me. Paranoia, I know. But could you blame me? Once I almost screamed by a sudden movement at my right, but then it just turned out to be a bird flying up from the ground. Jacob wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kept it there as we continued to walk. He didn't say anything, but I think he understood.

We arrived at the main house before the others. As I first saw the entrance the memories of the last time I opened that door hit me, and I ended in a halt. Jacob stopped as well, and held me closer to him. We stood there, looking up at the big white house.  
"Do you not want to enter?" he asked softly. He understood.

I hesitated, but then I gave myself another mental-slap. I needed to stop being ridiculous.

"Yes. Come on" I said firmly and started to walk up towards the house. It didn't smell of human any more – it had been raining. I reached the door and opened it without hesitating.

I was not nearly as rock-steady as I tried to be, but I refused to break down again, not now. I went inside, with Jacob right behind me. When we entered the kitchen , and saw the dishes I had planned to wash. The water was still in the sink. It was cold, of course. All the bubbles were gone. A tear streamed down my face and I angrily wiped it away. Jacob put a hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him. I looked up and he studied my face seriously, frowning. Another tear.

He wiped it away before I'd even lifted my hand to do it myself. Then he leaned down to kiss me, and I forgot all about the lump in my throat. He cupped my face between his big hands and kissed me like only he could. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them I only saw him. He gently broke the kiss and then guided me out of the kitchen into the living room. I was okay here. No bad memories. We sat down in the sofa. I kept my eyes on his face, and it was like I could not get enough of looking at him. He held my hand in his.

Then we heard the sound of a very familiar car approach in the distance. And it was approaching _fast,_ someone pushing the gas pedal all the way in. I got up from the sofa and went outside, and Jacob followed right behind me. He stood beside me on the porch, wrapping his arm around my waist. I stared at the turn of the road where I knew the car would appear any time now. It was the Volvo. The silver one. I could hear it. I could smell it. Dads car. Jacob tightened his arm around me. I wondered what he was thinking.

The silver car appeared right where I knew it would. Alice was driving. My mother was sitting in the front seat, all tense, her eyes fixed on me. I could hear a little gasp escape her lips, before she tore the car door open (in speed) and the next thing I knew she was gushing the air out of me in a tight embrace. I felt Jacobs arm slide away from me as my mom tore me away from him, and I gripped his hand firmly. He squeezed my hand in return. My mom held me tight to her, sobbing tearlessly at my shoulder. I felt another pair of hands wrap around us both, and realised my dad was there too. _Hi dad, _I thought weakly, and I knew he heard. Their touch felt cold against my skin, in contrast to Jacobs neutral, warm hand.

Mom let go of me to lean back and look at my face. Her eyes touched every bruise and scratch in my face, overlooking nothing. My dad stroke his hand carefully over my hair. He was only looking at my eyes.  
"Nessie" was all he said.

My mom hugged me again. "How are you feeling?" she whispered in my ear.

"I'm okay now" I said truthfully. I was okay, now. They were here. Jacob was here. I was okay. My mom leaned back to look at me with sceptical eyes, but my dad put a hand on her shoulder. I was thankful; I didn't want to retell everything right here, right now. I met my dads gaze. He nodded slightly.

"We should go inside" he said, and I realized my parents were not the only ones here. Alice, Rosalie and Jasper were there too, keeping a little distance from our little private reunion. As soon as I laid eyes on them however, they were all around me, hugging me and caressing my face. I was still gripping Jacobs hand, refusing to let it go.

As Jasper hugged me, a wave of calm flooded through me and I welcomed it gladly. I really liked Jasper – we understood each other. In some ways he understood parts of me better than anyone else. "Don't disappear again now, you hear me?" he said.

"Oh, I wont. " I promised. "Don't worry"

"It would be so much easier if I could _see_ you two!" Alice accused me, sending Jacob a glare too. "Then I could have prevented all of this from happening!".

"The important thing is that you're back." my mom said gently "I don't know how to thank you for this, Jacob". She sent him a grateful look, never letting go of me, always touching me in some way.

It looked like my dad was having some kind of silent conversation with Jacob; Jacob was looking very focused and serious, and my dad was looking down, sometimes moving his head a little bit in one direction or another. I knew that look. I wondered what Jake was telling him. As soon as I was thinking it, my dad looked up, breaking free from the little conspiracy. He'd heard me, I guess.

"Come on, let's go inside" he said "The others will be here any minute" He put his hand on my shoulder and sent me a smile. Huh. Well, it was nothing bad then, I guess.

"Of course not" he whispered in my ear. Jacob sent me a curious look.

* * *

Carlisle, Esme and Emmet arrived soon after. The first thing Emmet did when he saw me was lifting me up and swinging me around like I was a little girl. It made me smile. He didn't even care that he knocked over one of Esmes lamps on his way over to me; in fact, nobody cared about the lamp. Esme hugged me until Carlisle had to remind her that I in fact _did _breathe, and then Rosalie hugged me again just because she felt like it. It was good to see all of their faces again. It was a little uncomfortable to be the centre of attention for so long though, a quality I without a doubt had gotten from my mom.

I was sitting in the sofa, with Jacob on the one side and mom on the other. My dad was sitting opposite me on the other side of the table, leaning his elbows on his knees. His eyes never left my face. The rest of my family was spread around the room, eyes on me as well. I knew what was coming – I would have to tell them everything that had happened. I opened my mouth to start talking, but I didn't know where to start. But before I could say anything at all, Jacob started to explain.

"You already know what happened on Saturday." he began. "Well, it turned out that wasn't all coincidental..."

He told them about the phone, how he'd left and how I was gone when he came back. He told them about the pack, cleaning things up, sorting things out. The eyes of my family wandered back and forth between me and Jacob. I was so grateful I didn't have to retell everything. Jacob told them about Joham and how he'd kept me locked up in a room. When he came to the point where he was about to tell them about Johams plan, he stopped, as if he couldn't continue. I noticed his hands was trembling slightly. My dad let out an angry sound and made a sharp movement before he closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. Oh. I guess Jacob had been thinking it, even though he didn't manage to say it out loud.

"What?" Carlisle said, alarmed.

I sighed. This wasn't something Jake should have to say. I should say it myself. And so I told them, quickly assuring them that I was, in fact, okay and that nothing had happened. I didn't want another misunderstanding on that area. Their reactions were different. Some didn't show any reaction at all. Others did. Mom gasped and hugged me, and I noticed she was shivering. Emmet swore. Esme looked sick. Jasper closed his eyes. Jacob was just sitting there, his hands trembling.

I didn't want them to think about it, I didn't want to talk about it. I think they understood that, though. Of course dad and Jasper knew, and Jacob, but I think the rest of them understood as well. Jacob continued, explaining how he'd found me and gotten me home. I leaned back in the sofa closing my eyes, just listening to his voice.

* * *

It was dark outside. I lay there, listening to everyone talking. Jacobs story was interrupted by many questions, which led to new ones and new ones. I was tired. Again. What was wrong with me ? All I did was fall a sleep. I smiled without really knowing why. I felt funny. I wanted to go to bed, to sleep, but at the same time I didn't want to go anywhere. I didn't want to be alone, to leave, but at the same time I wanted to be alone. I wanted to listen to their voices but I didn't want to listen to their words.

A cold finger touched my face. I opened my eyes. My dad was standing behind the sofa, leaning over my shoulder.

"Do you want to go back to the cottage?"

I sighed.

"Maybe. I'm tired" _Yes. _I added in my mind. He smiled.

"We can go ahead. I'm sure Bella and Jacob can come later on"

"Okay. Sure" I said, a little puzzled. I got the impression that he wanted to talk to me alone, without anyone else there. It also was a little weird that he mentioned Jake – he never used to sleep in the cottage with us. I was glad, though. I wanted to be with him. I got up from the sofa, and received numerous hugs and kisses and a reassuring "We'll be right there" from my mom. I caught Jakes eyes before I left. It was clear that he wanted to come with me, but he smiled nonetheless, and tried to make it reassuring. I smiled back before I followed my dad out the door.

We were walking back to the cottage. It was way faster than any human, but not as fast as running. I wondered what he wanted to talk to me about.

"So you caught that, huh?"

Dad sent me a crooked smile.

"Wasn't very difficult" I replied.

"Guess I could have been more discreet" he said. "But I did want to talk to you. If you're not too tired "

_Go ahead, _I thought

He looked down as if he was weighing his words.

"You know I had a little...conversation...with Jacob earlier"

Ah. The silent-front-porch conversation.

"Yes" he continued. "That one"

I waited for him to continue. I had suspected them to be talking about what had happened to me. My heart sank a little – I didn't want to talk more about Joham or anything that had happened. I didn't want to talk about it, I got tired by just thinking about it...

"Yes, Jacob did brief me about that too. We don't have to talk about that today if you don't want to. Maybe tomorrow, when you've gotten some rest. But that's not all I wanted to talk about, though"

_Then what is it?_ I couldn't think of anything else that they had needed to talk about.

Dad paused a little before he continued.

"Actually, I wanted to talk about you two"

That was unexpected. Had Jacob told him...?

"Jacob told me that you know about the imprinting, yes. He also told me that he didn't know exactly how you felt about it"

"Oh" that was all I could manage to say.

"And then he told me very specific that nothing had happened and that I had no right to be angry with him."

"Dad..!" I started. That was something I hadn't even thought about (much), and for my _dad_ to just bring it up like this...

"Relax, Reneesme. I don't want to embarrass you" he smiled, totally unaffected.

I hesitated for one beat.

"Well, are you?"

"You're asking me if I'm mad? Why? Because he loves you? No, Reneesme. Of course,your mom and I could always have wanted him to wait a little while longer with feeling like this, but that is nothing we can control. Of course we are not mad. We knew it would happen eventually. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it. Are you upset that we didn't tell you sooner?"

"I was." I admitted. "But I understand now. He explained, and... I get why you didn't tell me." _But I am glad I know now, though, _I added in my mind.

"But you know, Renessme, that even though you know how he feels, that should not affect you and what you decide. What you decide must come from you, because neither of you deserve any less. You should not make your decisions based on his."

"I know. I haven't"

"I know" He smiled.

"Of course you do" I smiled too. Little bit embarrassed, but still.

"Don't be" he said solemnly. "This is nothing to be embarrassed about."

_I'm not e m b a r r a s s e d, _I thought. "I just don't like to talk about it, because I don't _know _yet." I finished out loud.

"I can understand that" Dad lightly put a hand on my shoulder " I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it".

We were nearly there now. I didn't know how long it would be before mom and Jake caught up with us. And speaking of Jake...

"Why did you say that Jake would come too, later?" I asked, frowning. "I mean, I don't mind, not at all, it's just... he don't normally sleep here. What brought this on?"

"If you could look into his head, Reneesme, you would have asked him to come too." Dad got suddenly serious. "It was very...hard...for him, being away from you those days, not knowing. I don't think you've realized how he acts around you now. It is as if he is afraid that someone is going to snatch you away from him any time. Or maybe he is just thinking it, it's hard for me to tell the difference. But he will stay with you no matter what now, as long as you let him. Besides, I'm pretty sure he would have slept outside your door whether I asked him to come or not"

Dad sent me another crooked smile and I smiled too, but only because I knew he was right. Jacob would have.

We had reached the cottage by now, and we both walked inside. It always felt so peaceful to come here. Peaceful, quiet, safe. Home.

"It's good to be back" my dad noted " We did miss you, you know" He patted my head, and I suddenly felt like I was two years old. He chuckled.

"Next time you'll come with us" he added. "Both of you".

_That sounds good_. I slumped down in a chair, and dad sat down on the sofa opposite me.

"Nessie" he said, seriously. I looked up. "How are you, really? I know you don't want to talk about it but I have to ask. "

"I'm...better. It will work out, I think. Just trying... not... to think about it. I'm tired. Maybe some time later. But not tonight"

He nodded. "Well, when you _do _want to talk about it..."

"I know" I tried to smile and closed my eyes. _Thank you, _I added in my mind. Far away I heard the muted thuds of running paws.

"Someone is eager to see you" he noted, listening too.

I heard my mom running, a few seconds before she opened the door and entered. She went straight over to me to give me a hug, before she went over to kiss my dad. Then she eyed me up and down.

"Are you tired, honey?"

"Yeah" My voice was dragging.

"Maybe you should go to sleep. We will be here the whole night. Nothing is going to happen while we are here, don't worry." She stroke my forehead and I realized my eyes had closed again.

"I know. I think I'm going to bed" I mumbled and staggered on my feet. As I looked around, Jacob appeared in the doorway, still wearing my sweatpants.

"Hey Jake" I said. The words melted into each other.

"You should go to sleep" he said, looking at me intently. "I'll be outside. Nobody will come close to this place tonight."  
It took me a second to understand what he meant.

"No, no Jake, you can't, you need to sleep. How long has it been since the last time you slept for real? It must be..days" I stopped, trying to count the days and nights in my head, but I was too tired to work it out.

"Stay, Jacob, you need to rest" I heard my mom say from behind me.

Jacob just smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I can sleep later. I'll be outside"

He kissed my forehead and before I could say anything he was gone. I stood there, staring at the door for several seconds. He'd probably phased already. What was he going to do? Run patrols around the cottage? Probably. A cold hand wrapped around my wrist.

"Come here"

My mom guided me into my room, stopping only to let me hug my dad. Mom waited for me change into a pyjamas and then she wrapped the blanket around me. Again. I felt like I was two. I didn't really mind it though. She gave me a long hug.

"I'm so grateful to have you here with me" she whispered. "I don't know what I would've done if something happened to you. Sleep now, honey. Nothing is going to happen now, okay? Just try to relax and you will feel better tomorrow when you've gotten some rest"

My eyes had already been closed for several seconds. I think I mumbled something incomprehensible, some kind of mixture of _okay _and _thank you. _I heard my mom close the door as she left. She said something to my dad, worrying that Jake didn't get any rest. And then I fell asleep and didn't hear anything else.

* * *

_A.N: Hope you like it. Remember to review:)_

_This story is now nearing the end, there is only two chapters left...But there _will _be a sequel, I'll give you more info about it later;)_


	13. Stairs

_**Disclaimer:** I don't own Twilight or any of the caracters._

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**Stairs**

I was laying on the ground. It was damp and wet and there was mist everywhere. I looked around. No one. What was happening? Where was Jake? My parents? Where was _I_? I tried to get up, but found out I couldn't move my legs. They felt like iron. I looked down and tried again. Nothing happened. What was this? What was happening to me?

When I looked up, there was someone there. A tall person. A man. He was standing in the shadow and I couldn't see his face. Something felt very wrong. Then there was pain. Excruciating, crushing pain. I tried to run, but I couldn't move my feet. I looked up again, and the person was standing over me. More pain. My legs wouldn't move.

He bent down, just inches from me, and I could finally see his face. It was Joham, and he was smiling. The pain was almost unbearable now. He reached a filthy hand towards me. I screamed. That I could do at least.

My eyes flew open and suddenly I could move again. All I could hear was my own screaming voice. Someone was really holding me down; this wasn't just a dream. I threw myself around trying to get up on my feet. Then a pair of hands gripped my shoulders very firm, and I looked into the eyes of my father. I froze in shock, and from the corner of my eyes I slowly recognized my own room. Standing behind him was mom, and towering over me on my left was no other than Jacob.

"It was a dream" my father said quietly. "Just a dream"

I realized I was holding my breath, and slowly let it out. Dad let go of my shoulders.

"Just a dream" I repeated. I locked eyes with my dad – I knew he'd seen. He gently stroke a hand over my forehead. I drew a deep breath and my heartbeat slowly settled into its regular, swift rhythm. Jacob was looking at me, his eyes filled with concern.

"Nothing will happen" my dad said solemnly. "I promise. It's gone now. Just a bad dream"

I drew another breath.

"I know"

My mom leaned down to hug me, and it made me relax a little.

"Are you feeling better?" she asked, searching my face.

"Yes. I'm just...yeah, I'm okay".

I saw her send my dad a questioning look, and he nodded. Mom kissed my forehead and my dad did the same before they both went out of the room leaving me and Jacob behind. He looked down at me.

"Don't go" I said to him.

He just nodded and sat down on the bed beside me.

"The pack got back" he said, playing with the fabric of my pillow. "They've taken care of everything. We can go see them tomorrow, if you'd like".

"Yes" I said, leaning back. "That sounds good"

He didn't answer. It was quiet. The only sound was the ticking from my alarm clock. I studied his face.

"What's this?" I asked, touching a little scratch right over his eyebrow. I very rarely saw him with any kind of scratch at all – he healed to fast for that. This must have happened very recent.

"You _do_ know how to hit when you're dreaming, I'll give you that." he smiled. "Just look what you did to me!"

I gasped. "_I _did that?"

"Oh, chill. It's nothing. You should probably practise your hitting-technique once in a while anyway. It'll do you good"

"Ha ha." Very funny. _Sorry,_ I added quietly, my hand on his cheek. He just smiled and shook his head.

"Try to sleep. I volunteer as a punching bag."

"I'm not sure if that's very wise of you".

"Oh, I'll risk it"

He laid down and opened his arms and I crawled closer to him. I closed my eyes and tried to relax. It wasn't difficult, since I could feel him relaxing beside me. I didn't have any more bad dreams that night.

* * *

We slept for hours. Hours, hours, hours. When I woke, I felt groggy and limp. Everything was a mess around me; pillows and blankets and sheets and me and Jacob; I didn't know which was which. The sun was shining bright outside. I was laying there for several minutes, watching the sunbeams dance across the wall. The only sound was Jacobs heavy breathing. He was still sleeping. My parents were still here somewhere, I guess. They said they would stay. I liked knowing that they were here. I _had _missed them.

I looked down at Jacobs face beside me. His face was peaceful. No concerned lines across his forehead, no frown. His hair was dishevelled and it was evident he'd been sleeping heavy. I wondered when he'd last gotten a good nights sleep. The shadows under his eyes told me it had been a while. I didn't want to wake him. Suddenly he let out a heavy sigh, followed by a little snore. I laughed quietly to my self. I'd gotten used to his snoring. Sometimes he didn't snore at all, sometimes he snored so loud I thought the walls might come down.

After about twenty minutes he started to stir. He peeked at me through squinted eyes against the bright sunlight. I smiled, closing one of my eyes as well.

"Sleepyhead" I noted.  
"Speak for yourself" he murmured, eyeing my hair. Yeah, it was in a mess.

"What time is it?" he looked around, confused.

"Half past two"

"Woah."

I smiled. " I think some sleep did you good"

"Likewise"

We fumbled around a little, trying to find out which limb belonged to who. He stroke his hand across my cheek sending me a smile, before he got up and went into the bathroom.

I got dressed and went into the living room to find it empty. I could smell omelet. Some one was cooking; and it turned out to be my dad. Mom was sitting by the kitchen table and they both greeted me when I entered

"Did you sleep well?" my mother asked, trying to smooth down the knots in my hair as I sat down.

"No more nightmares" I reassured her. She smiled.

"Do you want some?" my dad asked, nodding towards the omelet in the frying pan in front of him.

"Yes, please" Some food would be nice.

He flipped it over on a plate and put it in front of me, before he started to make another one for Jacob.

Jake joined us after a while – his hair still wet from the shower. My dad handed him an omelet too, which he eagerly consumed. He finished before I did. He explained about the pack to mom and dad, and how they'd gotten home last night.

"We should go and see them" I shot in. I wanted to see them again. Thank them.

"We can go right now, if you'd like"

I nodded.

"Renesmee" my mom said quietly. "Come back to the main house later, okay? Try not to be too late. Of course you should go and see the guys, but come back to us later. As soon as you can."

She sent me a serious smile, and I nodded. She wanted to see me, be around me. I could understand that after what had happened.

"I won't be late" I promised.

We said goodbye to my parents, and went outside.

"Are we going back to your house or to Emilys'?"

"Emilys, I think" he smiled down to me.

"Okay"

I closed my eyes as I turned in the other direction. I heard him chuckle quietly, so I stuck my tongue out at him. After a few seconds a warm muzzle poked me in the neck, and I turned around to face him. A huge wolf was looking down at me, his eyes the exact same hazel brown as his human eyes. I climbed up on his back, and he started a light jog through the forest. Well, to him this was light jog; to me it would be a sprint. Turtle, remember? His steps were calm and relaxed, so different from the last time we ran like this.

We reached Emilys place after a little while. Inside, we could hear someone chatting. They were here. I was surprised to see Jacobs car parked out by the front; one of the guys must have picked it up from the police station. Just before we reached the house, Jake stopped to let me down. I turned away while he phased and got dressed, and then we walked together up to the house. Jake wrapped his hand around mine.

They had heard us approach, so they knew we were coming. Everyone were there, spread all over the living room. Sams' pack, Seth, Leah, Emily and Kim. Even Claire was there, sitting next to Quil, peeking around his broad shoulder to look at me. As soon as we entered, all their faces turned towards us. One beat. Then Seth stood up, went up to me and gave me a tight hug. Then Embry hugged me, and then Emily.

They all went over to me, even Leah came over and gave me a half smile and a pat on the shoulder. She never was very sappy, Leah. She'd always been nice to me and I don't think she had anything against me, even though I think she really disliked me at first. But that was another story, I guess.

"How are you, Nessie?" Emily gripped my shoulders, and looked at me with concerned eyes.

"I'm okay"

I managed to give her a sincere smile, but she still looked dubious. I felt a little tense, with everyone watching me like that. I guess I was some sight, huh, with my purple face.

"Did you fall down the stairs too, Nessie?"

Claire had followed Quil over to our little crowd in the middle of the room, now peeking at me shyly from behind Quil, gripping his hand. She was referring to the one time she had fallen down the stairs at her home when she was seven, and gotten a bruise on her knee. It was nothing serious, except she'd cried a little. She eyed the bruises on my face knowingly. Everyone chuckled a little bit except Quil, who obviously remembered her fall with concern.

Her one question had broken all of the tension in the room, and moved their attention away from me. I smiled and bent down so that my eyes were level with hers.

"Yeah, I fell down some stairs. You know how that feels, huh?"

"Yes. My knee was all blue" she said, twisting her face into a frown as she remembered.

Everyone chuckled, and I smiled at the sight at her cute frown. I straightened back up as Quil bent down and lifted her up on his back. She squealed, and someone laughed. I sent Jacob a smile, and he tightened his grip on my hand.

Sam put a light hand on my shoulder.

"It's good to have you back" he said. He was smiling, but his eyes and voice were both serious. I smiled back and nodded. It certainly was.

"Thank you" I said. "All of you" I added, meeting their eyes. They just smiled and I received a few mock punches on my shoulder. I heard a few mutterings like"Anytime", "Don't think about it"; "Nothing to thank for" and "Don't mention it" before they went back to sprawl across Emilys living room. And that was that. Very guy-ish.

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_A.N: One chapter to go... Please review!:)_


	14. Finally

_A.N: _

_Al right everyone, this is the last chapter to this story. I hope you liked it! Thank you so much for all of the amazing reviews, and a special thanks to Pattyheartcake who has reviewed every chapter! And thanks to all of you who put me on Favourites and Alerts._

_I don't know exactly when the sequel will be up, but put me on Author Alert if you'd like to check it out. I'll add another post to this story as well, just to give you a little sneak peak...;)_

_Anyway, back to the chapter..._

**Disclaimer: **_Don't own Twilight, never did._

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**Finally **

They told me everything that had happened. Joham was gone. The pack had taken care of everything. They had burned down the remains of every little proof and fingerprint. The humans had been delivered to the police, and apparently the pack didn't even need to come up with a cover story – the police was already looking for them.

Jacob already knew most of what they told me; the guys had told him last night. Now he sat beside me on the floor, looking down at our still-entwined hands, tracing patterns in my palm.

They didn't ask about what had happened to me or why, which meant Jacob had already told them. Or maybe they'd just seen his thoughts and they knew already. Or maybe he had simply told them not to ask, because he knew I didn't like to talk about it.

We stayed for a few hours. When Quil and Claire got up to leave, we did so too. We were not in a rush to get back, but I would really like to just be alone with Jacob. He seemed a little bit restless, and I think he felt the same way.

We said goodbye to the others and went outside. I waited while he phased, and then I climbed up on his back. It was peaceful outside. The sun would set soon. Jacob started a light jog, taking it real slow. It was almost as if he didn't want us to reach home. Fine with me, I'd really like to be alone with him for a little while. I let my fingers trail down the fur over his shoulders. His fur was longer now – he needed a haircut. I buried my face down in his deep fur and felt him rumble, a deep, loving sound. It warmed my heart from the inside. I loved it when he rumbled like that. I loved him, really.

My eyes burst open at my own thoughts. I'd just been thinking that I loved him. Did I? I... I did. The realisation of it hit me straight in the face. Not doubtfully, quizzically like before, not hesitant. It hit me forcefully, truly and completely honest, and I was stunned by the reality of those three words. I loved him. How long had I? I'd told my self this was too soon, that I didn't know for sure. Didn't I?

I'd known Jacob always. And I knew beyond doubt that he loved me. I realised I was not just a turtle because of my speed, but also emotionally. I was a slug, emotionally. I'd been telling both of us that I needed _time, _that I didn't _know. _When in fact I did. This was not like some teenage romance, when _bam _after two weeks you just luuuv each other. This was _Jacob. _MyJacob. I'd known him forever. If there was one thing I was absolutely certain of, it was him. I could feel a smile spread on my lips.

Without thinking, I softly laid a hand on his forehead, straight between his eyes. _Stop. Please. _He stopped short, confused. I got down from his back and walked over to stand in front of him. He seemed even more confused now; normally I would look away or close my eyes to let him phase. But not now. I just needed to let him know. Which form he wore didn't matter. When he saw my expression his shoulders relaxed a little, relieved that nothing was wrong. I must have been smiling or something.

"I just realised something" I started.

I knew I'd told him I loved him before, but not like this. Not...real. I might have loved him, but I didn't completely_ know._ I did now. He looked at me quizzically, his hazel brown eyes huge with curiosity.

"I..."

I couldn't finish. The words got stuck in my throat somehow. Oh, why would I blush _now?_

He whined a little, as if he was aching to know what I was about to say. So I showed him instead. Slowly, I reached my hand up to touch his muzzle, stroking gently the side of his face. I didn't think any coherent words, I just showed him the feeling of it. I lingered on the certainty of it, and the feeling of truth. I showed him everything. Every little warm feeling I had for him. His eyes widened impossibly as he took in what I was showing him. It was funny how I wouldn't even be saying this to a person, but to a wolf. Still, it was _my _wolf. Ooo, getting possessive already, I thought, smirking.

He was over me then, and the world was turned up side down a few times before I landed on my back, with him kneeling over me, carefully placing his weight on the ground on each side of my shoulders. His eyes were shining with happiness and he was rumbling like a mountain lion as he tried to lick every inch of me he could reach.

"That will make Rosalie happy" I laughed, trying to cover my face with my arms. "She's finally home to see me and I'm going to smell like _you"._

He fell down on his back beside me, rolling around on the ground out of pure joy before rolling back. This made me laugh even harder, and I couldn't bring myself to stop before he was laying on his stomach beside me, his head resting on his paws, eyes on me. They were glowing. I'd rarely seen him as happy as this. I stroke his muzzle again, and the rumbling increased. I saw him cast a glance towards the nearest tree, as if considering running behind it to phase so that he could tell me everything he wanted to say.

"You don't have to" I said softly. "I think I know"

He let out a deep, happy sigh and focused his eyes on me again. I leaned my head down to rest by his paw, letting the gleams from the setting sun behind him warm my face. Laying like this, with Jacob, I didn't think the world could get any better.

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_A.N: Thanks for reading and reviewing!_


	15. About the sequel

**About the sequel...**

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_Here's the thing: since the sequel isn't completed, I thought maybe YOU wanted to have a say in the story. I have a rough sketch of it, but there's plenty of room for more. SO, review and tell me what you would like to read about! Anything they should do, something that should happen? I can't promise I'll write it, but give it a go! Maybe I will;)I'll try to put the new story up as soon as I can._

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_Some things are already decided, though: _

_- It's going to be longer._

_- Jacob and Nessie are now in a relationship, and they're going to get a lot_ closer_ in this story._ _Harr-de-harr. Yes, it's going to be rated M._

_- No kidnappings this time. I'm going to calm it down a little. No soul-shaking events. Much. Or wait..._

_- It's going to be some more JPOV._

_- And no, Jacob and Nessie are not going to get married and they are not going to have a baby. Not in this story, anyway._

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_By the way, some of you missed some lip-action in the last chapter. I know the was the perfect timing and all, but I wanted to make it a little bit different, you know? And I'll make it up to you, there will be plenty of lip-action later;)_

_Here comes a little sneak peak to the sequel. _

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"I wanted to have a cat when I was little" I remembered suddenly.

"You did?" Jake seemed surprised. "You never told me about it"

I guess he would never forget anything I wanted.

"Oh, it was just a really brief thing, it didn't last for more than a day. I was visiting Claire, I think, and we played with her neighbours cat. You know, made it run after toys, brushed it, cuddled with it..."

"Are you trying to make me jealous?"

I laughed, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, is it working?"

"A little. Why would you need a cat for? Am I not furry enough?"

"No, it was just the feeling of... I dunno, someone to brush and bring milk to, or something. You know?"

"I'll let you pass me the milk from now on if you get a kick out of that"

I reached my tongue out to him. Not very mature, I know, but neither was he, so...

"Or you could, throw me a stick or something. Maybe I'll get it", he continued, smirking.

To prove my point, I leaned down, reaching for a little branch on the ground in front of the stairs. I threw it into the forest and it disappeared out of sight. Then I turned to look at him expectedly. He just laughed.  
"See?" I pointed out "S'not the same. "

"Alright then" he smiled, wrapping his arms around me. " I get your point".

And then he leaned down to kiss me.

...

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_A.N: _

_Bam Bam Bam._

_Now, tell me what you'd like to read about in the sequel!_


	16. Last note

Just a quick note...

Some of you wanted me to update on this story when I put up the first chapter of the sequel. It's now done, and it's called **Sweet Thing.** You can go to my profile to check it out. I wont add another post to this story:)


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